Saudade
by Iwillgodownwiththisship27
Summary: Saudade: deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves. The beginning of the gang's senior year starts off with the return of none other than Jughead Jones to the Halls of Riverdale High.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I'm rating this T for now, might switch to M in later chapters, we'll see how it goes. I'm very excited about this idea and I hope I don't disappoint. I know Cheryl is older than the gang but for the sake of this story I made her the same age.**

 **"** Betty, you wouldn't seriously consider wearing _that_." Veronica scoffed at the picture Betty had shown her of the dress she'd found for the annual back to school dance. "It's senior year. We all need to go out with a bang! Come to my house after school I have just the perfect thing for you." She eyed her blonde friend mischievously.

Betty scrunched her face as she looked back at the picture. She thought her fashion forward best friend would be proud of her. The vintage A-line white and mint floral dress was her predictable knee length but it was also sleeveless and she'd hoped to impress V with that aspect. "Is it because it's a pastel?"

Veronica's expression softened. "Yes and no. It still looks like something from the fifties."

"It's vintage." Betty offered hopefully.

"That's a poor people term for _used_." Cheryl interjected from the other side of Veronica. "Honestly Betty, just surrender yourself now. V will use any excuse to turn you into her Franken-fashion project. And if you ever want Archiekins to relieve you of your virginity, you're gonna need a bit more sex appeal. You could always break out the infamous black wig."

"While I am all in favor of burning Betty's entire wardrobe, cut her some slack. At least she _has_ a date." Kevin sulked from across the lunch table.

"Moose hasn't texted you back yet?" Betty reached across the table and placed a hand over his sympathetically.

"What do _you_ think? I ditched him when he needed me for a serpent; I rubbed it in his face every chance I got that I had a real boyfriend; when we got back together after Joaquin left, I pushed and pushed and pushed until he came out of the closet; _oh_ and his friends and teammates bullied him mercilessly for being gay until he had to transfer schools. No, I don't think I'm getting anything from him after single handedly ruining his life." He huffed and slunk back into his chair. "Fuck it, I'm getting cheese fries." He went back to the lunch line.

"Gay drama seems so much worse than lesbian drama." Cheryl mused and eyed her raven haired girlfriend happily.

"Oh come on. For the first few months you and I were together, you'd barely let me hang out with Betty. You thought she'd steal me away or something." V laughed at her airily.

"Need I remind that you _made_ _out_ with her when you two tried out for cheerleading?" The redhead raised a perfect eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"I had absolutely nothing to do with that." Betty raised her hands up, not wanting to get into the middle of her friends' lover's quarrel on the first day back at school.

"Whoa who made out with _who_?" Archie asked excitedly as he stocked up to the lunch table. "If you still swing that way, I wouldn't mind getting in the middle of a B and V sandwich." He wiggled his eyebrows at his blonde girlfriend.

"You are vile!" Betty threw a french fry at him.

"As _if_ , Veronica has standards now." The long haired Vixen stood up. "Later losers, I have a facial."

"I'll give _you_ a facial Cher." Reggie called after her as he sat next to Archie receiving the finger from Cheryl. "Hey did you guys know Sweeny Todd's back?"

"Sweeny Todd?" Betty questioned.

Reggie opened his mouth to explain but closed it and gestured behind her. "See for yourself." He smirked. The whole table turned in the direction of his movement and the sight made her heart sink. Entering the cafeteria was none other than Jughead Jones. In the year and a half since she'd seen him, his hair had grown a couple inches making it harder to keep out of his face. Similar to a young Johnny Depp. He had filled out a bit and his face seemed harder somehow, as if he'd aged half a decade in the span of a year. He kept the same style, black pants and hanging suspenders, an 'S' t-shirt under his serpent jacket. "I can't believe he still wears that fucking _beanie_. Isn't he like in a gang now or something?"

"Or _something_." Archie commented eyes locked on Betty who was still open mouthed staring at her ex-boyfriend.

She suddenly felt dizzy with all the emotions overwhelming her as her lost love met her gaze. "I-I have to go." She said abruptly and ran for the exit before running smack into Kevin and his cheese fries, chilli staining her cardigan and going down her tank top and bra. " _Shit_!"

 **A/N: I know it's a pretty short chapter but I just needed to get this first part done while I'm trying to finish another oneshot. Future chapters will hopefully be longer. The next scene will be Betty and Jughead's first interaction after all this time. Should be up in the next couple days.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay so I lied I haven't got my oneshot done yet but I'm obsessed with this story and I'm having so much fun writing it.**

"Just fucking _perfect_." Betty mumbled to herself trying to get the stain off her white tank top, pink cardigan be damned. She had several more of those at home and one she brought just in case to keep in her locker. The only good thing about today was that she had a free period after lunch so she had time to clean herself up. Not that it was going well.

"Betty? Are you in here?" Veronica called into the girl's locker room.

"Yeah, V. I'm by the sinks."

Veronica let out a wolf whistle at the sight of her friend in her black bra. "You know, the first time I saw you in that bra was the exact moment I realized I was gay. Like Alex Vause from Orange is the New Black _gay_."

"My eyes are up _here_." The the blonde teased her best friend.

"So...that was intense back there." The dark haired girl leaned back against the sink. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just peachy. Did Archie say anything after I left?"

"No but he looked kinda jealous. You _were_ having eye sex with your ex right in front of him." She said in a matter-o-fact tone.

" _Eye_ _sex_?! I was surprised. I haven't seen him since we broke up. He just kinda dropped off the face of the Earth. You'd think we would have at least seen him at Pop's or something. And now he just shows up again out of nowhere? What the hell is he even doing here?"

"Beats me." She grabbed the tank top out of Betty's hands. "This is ruined, you're not getting that stain out."

"What am I gonna wear the rest of the day? I have another cardigan in my locker but it doesn't button or zip or anything. Do you have any clothes here V?"

"I _may_ have something." Her eyes lit up at the chance to dress what she considered her real life Barbie. "I'm going to run back to my locker to get it. You wait here." She was almost out of sight before turning back to her friend. "Actually, you probably want to wash your hair. You have chilli in your ponytail." The blonde groaned loudly in response.

* * *

"No V. I can't wear _that_." Betty insisted at the dark blue lace tank top she was holding.

"But it will look _so_ good on you. It might make Jones see what he's been missing." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Betty scoffed, taking the tank from Veronica and throwing it over her head. "I'm not trying to impress him. I have Archie. I don't even know him anymore." She looked at herself in the mirror. The top had spaghetti straps that definitely did not cover her bra straps, it was skin tight with loads of cleavage, you could basically see the black bra beneath if you looked hard enough, and it just barely covered her freshly pierced navel. If she moved her arms at all it would show. She felt exposed. She was happy she at least had her cardigan for some coverage.

"Damn, B. You look better in this than I do. It looks so good with your ripped skinny jeans." She put her hand thoughtfully on her chin. "It's missing something."

"Like the other half of this shirt?"

"Would you be open to wearing heels with it?" Her friend asked, ignoring her sarcasm. Betty gestured angrily toward her ruined flats on one of the locker room benches. "Looks like you don't have much of a choice." Veronica clucked happily and pulled a pair out of her backpack.

"Black _stilettos_? You can't be serious. I'll be as tall as Archie."

"Unless you want to wear stinky gym shoes the rest of your first day back these are your only option." Betty slipped on the shoes. "Okay strike a pose. This is a totally Instagramable moment."

"Veronica-" Betty whined.

"Betty," She pouted in response.

"I don't know why I even try." The blonde laughed.

"Ooh that was perfect! A nice candid shot. #slay. You really should wear you hair down more."

The bell rang for 6th period and the two girls made their way to class. "Wow, Betty. You look- just wow." Archie says falling into step with the girls, interlacing his fingers with hers. "I'm a lucky guy."

She felt herself blush and she shrugged. "Veronica borrowed me some stuff after my chilli fry fiasco."

"Kevin said to tell you thank you for him. You saved him from all those _calories_." He chuckled.

The girls laughed with him until Betty suddenly closed her mouth and clenched her jaw. "What's wrong Bet-" He followed her eyes to the locker they were passing by. "You're not going to talk to him are you?"

"There's nothing to say." She lied, quickly averting her eyes from Jughead's blue-green gaze. The blonde tried ignoring how fast her heart had started pounding.

"Good. Hey would you mind waiting for me after football today? I have something for you." She nodded.

She got to her AP Anatomy class and quickly found a seat next to Kevin. "Oh my _God_. I just have to tell you that you look amazing. I saw that whole hallway scene a minute ago, and it was _seriously_ like a teen movie." Betty snorted. "For real! Like you and V walking with Archie and laughing while everyone stared at you. Jughead couldn't take his eyes off you and when you're eyes met, it was like time stopped." He clutched his heart.

 _What is with everyone today?_ She thought to herself. "I think you've been watching too many bad teen movies." She rolled her eyes.

"The perks of being single." He sighed. "Ooh speak of the devil."

Jughead walked into the class and found a spot at the back of the room. Reggie was late to class and the only seat left was next to the leather clad boy. He smirked and turned toward him beginning to speak.

Jughead held a hand up. "Let me just stop you there. Before you make _whatever_ smart ass comment or obscure movie reference on the tip of your tongue, keep in mind I'm _not_ the same kid you used to talk shit to. I've been at South Side High the past year and a half and the dudes I had to put up with there make the jocks here look like pussies. I'm sure you've seen these guys, at least when they were kicking your ass on the football field. If you don't think I have ways of putting them in their place you're dead-" He paused. "wrong. And unless you can find someone-" His eyes flicked up at Betty. "to switch with you, it looks like you're stuck having me as a partner. Now, I'd like for this year to go smoothly. How's that sound?" He laced his fingers behind his head and propped his feet up on the lab counter.

"F-fine." Reggie choked out, obviously shaken at his former victim's monologue.

"Glad we could agree on something." He offered his fist to the jock who _actually_ flinched before realizing it was meant to be bumped and followed suit.

Jughead turned his attention to the front of the room and winked at Betty who whipped around faster than you could say- "Anatomy." The teacher glided into the room. "The study of the body. Please turn your textbooks to page 30."

"Oh. _My_. God." Kevin whispered to his friend. "This is going to be one _interesting_ school year."

 **A/N: I'm sorry there wasn't any real Bughead dialogue in this chapter like I promised but SOON my lovelies. Be prepared for another update in no time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone who followed the story! I'm not sure how long I want to make this story but I know I'm at least writing through the dance. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

There was no cheer practice that day since Cheryl and Veronica were holding tryouts for new team members. Betty was invited but it wasn't mandatory. After she had gotten used to her new outfit, she honestly didn't want to take it off. At least, not for 'stinky gym shoes' as Veronica had so delicately put it. Archie had been extra handsy the rest of the day. Coming up behind her and kissing her neck after one of her classes, and tickling her sides in the hall before he had football practice. She did notice Jughead seemed to be around most of the times Archie had been all over her but she still hoped it might spark the beginning of the end for her virginity. She had only gotten close to losing it once but it was interrupted by a certain biker gang offering her boyfriend at the time a membership. "Talk about beginning of the end." She whispered to herself. Of course, she wouldn't be caught dead dating a gang member. She _would_ be dead if her mother found out. The morning of the day Jughead was supposed to be initiated she broke things off. She wasn't sure what the initiation was but it made the reality of the situation really hit her.

She went back to her life the rest of her sophomore year flying by with nothing all that exciting happening to her other than the birth of Polly's twins. Her best friends had life altering experiences in that same period of time. Archie's dad was shot in what was ultimately ruled a robbery gone wrong. Luckily, Fred survived but they never found the guy. Veronica and Cheryl's feud blew up until they eventually realized that it was just sexual tension and started their exasperating relationship. Unfortunately, that meant Cheryl's automatic addition to their friend group. They were lucky they all stayed friends. Archie was surprisingly understanding about Veronica ending their relationship.

At the beginning of their junior year, Archie asked Betty to be his date to the back to school dance and they had been together ever since. The relationship was sweet and they genuinely cared for eachother but it was a bit monotonous after all the drama from the previous year. Archie was well aware of her virginity and always seemed to have excuses as to why he didn't want to sleep with her yet. She knew he was worried since he hadn't taken anyone's virginity before despite his handful of previous partners. She considered it a good thing he wasn't as willing to jump right into bed with her like he seemed to with everyone else. However, they had been together almost a year now and it was getting a bit ridiculous.

Since school ended, she had been roaming around the school aimlessly. She hadn't gotten much homework since it was the first day and there wasn't really anything too exciting to write for the Blue and Gold yet. She liked exploring and it was a nice time for her to sort out her thoughts. She hadn't realized she wandered into some dark unused part of the school. _I must be toward the back._ She thought. _I'm pretty sure there's an exit around here somewhere._ She used her dim phone light to navigate around all the forgotten clutter in the storage area. _Bingo_. She found the heavy metal door, the neon Exit sign so caked in dust you could barely see the light.

Outside the door was a ramp that led down to a part of the parking lot, complete with a set of dumpsters. The smell of smoke permeated her nose and she turned her head to the source. Next to her, was a big metal door that lifted up, probably for deliveries to the school. Sitting on the raised platform was Jughead who jumped at her exit from the school and dropped his cigarette. "God _dammit_! You scared the shit out of me Betty! I thought you were Weatherbee." He said, picking up his cigarette before taking a long drag. "Well, are you going to come catch up with your old pal?"

She hadn't realized that she had been staring and wordlessly went and sat next to him. _What am I doing?_ She thought. _I shouldn't be here. Especially not alone with him._ He raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh, what are you doing here?" She asked, sounding a lot less stern than she had hoped.

He side eyed her. "Oh, I got detention for calling someone a cunt. I kind of forgot how little you can get away with here. I just got out."

"Obviously you haven't forgotten what you can get away with if you're smoking on school property." She replied.

"There's a lot worse things you can do on school property." His eyes bore into her suggestively. She suddenly felt hot all over. "No River Vixens today?" He asked, and turned away from her facing the empty lot besides a motorcycle.

"Cheryl and Veronica are holding tryouts so it wasn't mandatory." She shrugged.

"So are they like _together_ now or does Veronica just have a habit of making out with random girls? I saw them in quite an intimate moment together after 8th period." He put out his cigarette on the concrete next to him.

"Yeah. They've been dating since the Summer before our Junior year. It was a surprise to us all." She lamented and smiled happy for her friends. He pulled something out that _looked_ like another cigarette out but it smelled different. "That smells like a skunk."

"Oh, poor, sheltered Betty." He chuckled and lit the non-cigarette. Her eyes widened.

"Wait, is that _marijuana_?!"

"Maybe you're not so sheltered after all." He smirked. She scanned the area, sure they would get caught but the parking lot was empty and she knew the majority of the school was also. She relaxed her shoulders when she realized how private the place they were in actually was. "Have you tried it before?"

" _God_ , no!"

"Would you like to?" He held the joint out to her. She was about to say no again but she realized this was the first time in a long time someone had actually asked her what she wanted instead of deciding for her. She took the rolled up paper between her fingers and cautiously lifted it to her lips. "Just inhale deeply. You'll probably cough but try to hold it in as long as possible." He coached her. She hacked up a lung for a few minutes but took another puff when it was her turn again. She started feeling lightheaded. She watched the boy she used to love as he took a drag.

"What happened to you Jug?" She blurted without meaning to.

"What exactly do you mean?" He asked, slowly meeting her gaze.

"I just mean, you _smoke_ now and you're getting detention and threatening jocks. You're a completely different person."

"Aren't _you_ smoking right now?" He shot back, avoiding her question. "It's not like you haven't changed. I never pegged you as the type to get a belly button ring. I never thought Alice Cooper would allow _such_ _a_ _thing_." He did his best Alice impression.

"She doesn't know." Betty said, covering her stomach. She forgot just how exposed she was and pulled her cardigan tighter around her. "Cheryl convinced me I needed one when I wanted a drastic change that my mother wouldn't notice. It was this or she was going to force me to get a lower back tattoo with her." Betty grimaced.

Jughead raised an eyebrow and his eyes slowly swept over her again. "I like it." He commented before looking forward. She couldn't help but feel a surge of confidence at his approval.

"How have you been?" She asked looking him over and noticing the hard lines that had formed on his face.

"As fine as I could have been, I guess." He kept his gaze facing the trees behind the parking lot.

"Are you still with your foster family?"

"Yeah, but they moved across town to the North side now, just barely over the line. That's actually why I'm back to school here now."

"How's your dad?" She noticed him flinch at her question.

"What is this? An _interview_?"

"Sorry, force of habit to question people." She looked away from him.

She was about to take another drag off the joint when Archie walked around the corner. "Betty? There you are! I was looking all over for- What the fuck? I thought you said you _wouldn't_ talk to him?!"

"You said you wouldn't talk to me?" Jughead questioned in her ear.

"Wait, Arch, it's not what you think, I just came out of the school and he was just there and-" She had jumped from the loading dock and walked up to her boyfriend.

"Are you fucking _high_ right now?" His eyes were furious. She heard Jughead laugh from behind her and she shot him a glare. "I don't know what the fuck is going on right now but you can forget about the dance." He threw a container with a white corsage in it on the ground and turned heel and walk away.

" _Fuck_!" She exclaimed, digging her nails into her plams as she watched him walk away, hot tears stinging her eyes. She would have followed him but he was right about her current state and had a hard time staying steady.

"Hey, it's alright. Take a deep breath." She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and heard a soft tone behind her trying to soothe her. She whirled around.

"You! This is all _your_ fault." She pushed his hard chest back away from her.

"Hey, you made your own decisions to talk and smoke with me." He said with his hands up. "If I knew you weren't _allowed_ I wouldn't have bothered you."

She narrowed her eyes at him as he walked past her into the parking lot. Anger carried her feet after him. "I am allowed to do whatever the _hell_ I want, thank you very much."

"Do you need a ride?" He asked, his tone soft again, but firmer than before.

"No." She said eyeing the bike.

"You sure about that?" He probed while putting on his helmet. She turned behind her and looked around the corner of the school at the other parking lot. Veronica and Cheryl's cars were both gone.

"I guess I do. Can you take me to the Pembrooke?" She looked sheepishly back at him.

"Yeah, I don't mind. _Here_." He handed her a second helmet that was in a compartment on the bike.

"Am I going to die?" She questioned eyeing the bike warily remembering all the times her mother had called them 'death traps.'

"Maybe." He teased and she smacked his arm lightly before climbing on behind him. He tore out of the parking lot and she had to wrap her arms around his waist to hold on. As scared as she was, it felt exhilarating. She felt the wind in her hair that poked out of the helmet and a bubbly giggle escaped her lips. It would have been cold had it not been for the heat radiating between their bodies. She felt the vibration of the bike between her legs and her hips pressed into Jughead's backside. Too soon, the ride was over and they had pulled up in front of the lavish apartments. "Have fun?" He asked.

"Yeah I did, actually. Thank you." She said and handed back the helmet. "Um, see you at school." She hurried into the building almost running smack into Veronica.

"Was that _Jughead_?! Tell me everything!" She exclaimed excitedly pushing her best friend towards the elevators.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I finally talked my boyfriend into watching Riverdale with me so I now have an excuse to watch it again for the fourth time.**

"So are you still going to the dance?" Kevin asked Betty as he glanced at Archie walk past the four of them to a table with Reggie and Chuck and a bunch of other football players. She hadn't looked up from her spaghetti she wasn't eating but her three friends couldn't help but notice the glare he shot at her.

"I don't _know_." She groaned. "It's been two days and he hasn't talked to me, he won't reply to any of my texts, and he never seems to be alone for me to even try talking to him."

"You can be my date! We're _obviously_ going in Blossom-Lodge style. The girls already have a limo rented and everything." He offered trying to cheer her up.

"Besides, B, you can't let that dress I found for you go to waste." Veronica reminded her. "You _are_ my fashion masterpiece. It's only Wednesday. He might come around."

"I think this would be the perfect opportunity to let him go. He wasn't a great kisser." Cheryl commented lazily while inspecting her cuticles. Veronica kicked her under the table. "What? We've all kissed him, no need to pretend like getting slobbered on is anything special. Well, except you Kevin, _only_ in your wet dreams I suppose, but I'll fill you in: you're not missing much."

"Cheryl, don't you have some poor unsuspecting freshman to torture?" Kevin said, narrowing his eyes at her. "Or maybe some small children to lure into your house made of gingerbread?"

"Hey you two, play nice. We're trying to help Betty here, _remember_?" Veronica looked between her girlfriend and Kevin. "You two bickering is not going to help."

"I'd just like to point out the fact that Betty doesn't need him. If he wants to sulk because he's insecure about her talking to her ex that's his problem. I mean I've never once said that you can't talk to Archie and Betty is obviously fine with Archie talking to you as well. It's about trust and he clearly has _none_ for her. It makes me wonder if he's actually trustworthy." She gestured with her fork. "Archie or not you should still come to the dance with us." She said to Betty.

"Yeah, I guess I will. But it really is my fault. I told him I wouldn't and it definitely didn't help that we were getting _high_ -" She whispered. "behind the school. I wouldn't be happy if I found him doing something like that."

"Not to mention Archie and Veronica weren't really in love. He was just her beard. What you and Jughead had was _real_." Kevin said sincerely.

" _Finally_ , something we can agree on." Cheryl nodded. "To be honest B, the poster child for doom and gloom sure seems to still have the hots for you. You _have_ to have noticed him always staring at you. Have you talked to him at all since Monday?"

" _No_. He heard Archie say that he didn't want me talking to him and after he gave me a ride the other night, he thankfully hasn't. Knowing him, he probably just decided not to get in the middle of things and backed off." As if she needed anymore things in her life to confuse her at the moment.

"I think what we all need is to relax, have some fun, lose our inhibitions. We need to go _out_ tonight." Veronica crossed her arms and smiled around the table.

"It's a _Wednesday_ night." Betty looked at her dumbfounded.

"Which _means_ , there will be no line at Innuendo. I'll even pay for everyone. But Betty, you'll probably have to sneak out."

"Oh, what the hell. I think I can handle that." She smiled at her friends, hopeful that a little fun might cheer her up.

The bell rang and she headed to the Blue and Gold office to work on homework during her free period.

"Oh by the way Betty, I was just going to let you know I won't be in Anatomy today. I need more time to work with Josie and the Pussycats on the setlist for the dance Friday. You know what it's like being on the dance committee." Kevin said before walking off.

* * *

Halfway through 5th period the door opened to the empty office and Archie came walking up to her desk. "Hey is this an okay time to talk?"

"Maybe if you'd been answering your phone you'd know when I'm _available_ to speak." She grumbled.

"Look I'm sorry Betty but seeing you with _that guy_ , it drives me nuts. I know I overreacted but you gotta understand that he's trouble. I mean obviously if the first time you ever spoke to him again he was doing _drugs_."

" _That guy,_ used to be your best friend. I don't know why you haven't at least tried to talk to him or see if he's okay."

"He's a serpent now. I don't want to get mixed up in that." He shrugged lamely. "Plus the way he looks at you ticks me off. That's just not the way you look at another dude's girlfriend you know?"

"I'm just saying maybe he needs a _friend_. You have no idea what's going on in his life."

"Oh, and you do?" He exclaimed. "You had a heart to heart the other day?" He mocked.

"No, but I asked how FP was and you should have _seen_ the look on his face. He's obviously going through something."

"FP's been in jail for a year and a half and he's probably not getting out anytime soon. If he hasn't figured out how to deal with it by now that's his problem. He's a big boy he doesn't need anyone to _babysit_ him. Especially not you."

Betty looked at Archie wondering when he became so uncaring, so self absorbed. This isn't the boy she grew up with, the boy she fell in love with.

"Archie I think you need to _leave_. I have homework." She pushed him out of the door and locked it behind her.

"Whatever." He said and walked off, the sound muffled by the door.

She returned to her homework and the bell for the next class rang. In Anatomy, they were being put in pairs for a PowerPoint project. Most people chose their desk mates but sadly, Kevin was absent as he had mentioned earlier. Reggie also happened to be missing from the class as well.

"Mr. Jones, Ms. Cooper, looks like both your usual partners are absent. The two of you will have to pair up for this project."

Jughead walked from the back of the class and silently slouched into the chair next to Betty. _Just great_. She thought.

"For this PowerPoint you will decide on an animal that you will explain the Anatomy of. You will need a slide for each of the major systems, a picture with all the body parts labeled, both interior and exterior. Do _not_ forget your works cited people. You are in _AP_ Anatomy for a reason, this should be an easy project to have done by Friday."

"Well, Betty, what animal would you like to do our project on?" Jughead turned to her.

"How about a _snake_ since you're so familiar?" She said a bit sarcastically.

"Okay, a snake it is." Jughead had his laptop with him and they began working on their PowerPoint. "We're not going to finish this all in class." He said looking at the clock 45 minutes later. They knew since it was an AP class they probably wouldn't get class time to work on it the next day.

"Send me the link, I'll just finish it tonight." She rolled her eyes.

"It's already on my computer I can finish it." He says back.

"Just come to my house after school, we'll finish _together_." Betty said agitatedly.

"Deal." She watched in annoyance as the corners of his lips turned up ever so slightly, into his smug smirk she knew all too well.

* * *

Betty was waiting in her room for Jughead to arrive, pacing on her worn carpet. She regretted telling him to come over but a part of her just couldn't help but see the rest of the project through. She hated her issues she had with delegating. She realized, that she was also nervous. Her stomach was in knots and she had double checked what she looked like in the mirror almost every time she passed it. She was straining to hear the doorbell so hard that the sound of someone tapping the glass on the window behind her made her just about jump out of her skin.

"Did I scare you?" He chuckled as she slid up the window.

"Half to _death_ , you're lucky I don't push you off that ladder!"

"Ha, yeah I didn't really expect it to still be there but when I saw it I just decided that this would be better than facing Alice Cooper." He said as he climbed into her bedroom.

"I just put it there earlier because I'm using it tonight. I mostly expected you to use the front door."

"You got a hot date with Ed Sheeran?" He asked as he eyed her up and down.

"No uh, _Ed_ hasn't really talked to me much since Monday when, well you know what happened. I'm actually going out with Kevin and Veronica, and Cheryl I guess."

"Innuendo?" He raised his eyebrows and she nodded back. A small smile playing on his lips, like he knew something she didn't. "That explains the outfit I guess."

She looked down at her sequin top and leather skirt. "Yeah." She shrugged. "And I don't want to be late so let's finish this project."

Once they had finished the PowerPoint it was 7 o'clock and the sun was beginning to set. "Shit, I'm going to be late." She huffed.

"I can give you a ride. I'm sort of heading in that direction anyways." He offered.

"Okay, yeah I think that might be my best shot at not facing Veronica's wrath." He motioned for her to go down the ladder first and he climbed out of her room and shut the window behind him.

The ride on his bike was just as thrilling as before and she felt free flying through the wind as they drove in the direction the sun was setting. She had a big smile plastered on her face as she took off her helmet. " _Elizabeth Cooper_ , were you actually having fun?"

"Hey I know to have _fun_ , I'm going clubbing on a school night aren't I?" She raised an eyebrow at him as he rolled his eyes.

"If _that's_ your definition of fun I suppose." She was a bit confused when he took off his helmet too and put them both into the compartment on his bike.

He walked past her towards the entrance, complete with a big burly bouncer guarding the door. "Well," he said walking backwards. "you coming?" His words were a challenge and she straightened her posture before following him.

"You're going inside too?" She asked, with a hint of disbelief in her voice.

"How _else_ do you expect to get in without the good Blossom or Lodge names to get you in."

"Oh and the name _Jones_ is supposed to get me in?" She cocked her head teasingly.

"You'd be surprised." He smirked.

At the door the bouncer took one look at Jughead and lifted the velvet rope. "Right this way Mr. Jones." Jughead turned around and lifted his eyebrows at her shocked expression.

"What the _hell_ was that about?" She asked.

"People know me. I have business here." He shrugged.

"Business? At a _gay_ bar?"

"You remember Joaquin, Betty?" He said and she spotted the long haired blue eyed boy also in a serpent jacket that Jughead had gestured to. He was sitting near the bar.

"I didn't know he was back! Kevin will be thrilled!"

"He just got back in town tonight, actually. Hey do me a favor and wait like 20 minutes before sending Kevin over to his long lost love, yeah? We have some things to discuss first."

"Yeah, I can do that." She nodded as she spotted her friends on the dance floor, waving her over and giving her questioning looks no doubt about who she had walked in with. "Thanks for the ride... _again_."

"No problem Cooper I don't mind having a passenger every now and again." He smiled genuinely at her and she felt her heart tug. Feelings that she quickly tried to squash down as she approached her friends.

 **A/N: So I'm going on a couple hour road trip tonight so I'll try to get some work done on the next couple chapters then and can hopefully upload later tonight or tomorrow.**


	5. Chapter 5

After filling her friends in on the gossip they begged for about her and Jughead, she told them about a certain serpent's return to town. However, when they all turned to the bar to ogle him, both the gang members were nowhere to be found. Nevertheless, the group danced their hearts out for about an hour or so until Veronica and Cheryl insisted they start drinking.

" _One_ shot. Just one. Please Betty, you said you got your homework done. Live a little!" Veronica pursued handing her a large shot glass of something pink.

The blonde gave up on arguing with her friend and downed the shot. It wasn't too bad until the burn that followed. "Whoo!" She exclaimed after shooting the third one V handed to her. "Kevin look! There's Joaquin and Jughead!" She pointed across the floor. J and J, LOL. Hey, JJ come here!" She called out to the boys who made their way over with amused expressions on their faces.

"Did you three manage to get Ms. Goody-Two Shoes _drunk_?" Jughead laughed at the little blonde bouncing happily in place to the music.

"Hey, I'm not _that_ much of a Goody Two Shoes." She said, hands on her hips and brow furrowing. "In fact," She began, her green eyes lighting up with an idea as a new song she liked by the Chainsmokers came on.

Before he could protest, Jughead was being pulled by the collar of his leather jacket to the dance floor. He watched her move around him in time to the beat and surprising himself, he found himself moving along with her. It definitely wasn't any sort of music he usually listened to; but in that moment watching her move with the bass, it was his favorite song.

They both tried ignoring the lyrics about lost love but he felt a twinge in his chest as she sang, " _You_ , look as good as the day I met you. I forget just why I left you, I was insane." Soon her friends joined them, along with Joaquin, who seemed to be enjoying Kevin's company.

They all sang the chorus, " _So baby pull me closer in the backseat of your Rover, that I know you can't afford, bite that tattoo on your shoulder, pull the sheets right off the corner off the mattress that you stole from your roommate back in Boulder. We ain't ever getting older."_

Eventually Betty noticed a mixed girl with pink hair pulling Jughead away from the group. She seemed to know him well, once they were at the bar they engaged in a heated discussion. Betty could tell because of the look on Jughead's face was stern and he was moving his hands a lot. A few people moved around the crowd and Betty could get a better look at the girl. She had heavy but well done eye makeup, black high waisted shorts with fishnets underneath, combat boots, a plaid shirt tied around her waist, and white tank top. Her style seemed to be similar to Jughead's, actually.

Betty pretended to not notice him when he made his way back over to her. "Hey I have to go!" He yelled over the music. "You guys make sure Betty gets home safe alright?"

Her friends nodded and he went back to the mystery girl who he slung his arm over before they walked out of the club together. Betty could barely hide the burning jealousy in the pit of her stomach. _Did Jughead have a girlfriend?_ But wait, why did she care? After all, she was dating Archie even if he was being kind of a douche canoe right now. She eyed Joaquin dancing with her group wondering if he might know more about Jughead and started looking for an opportunity to question him.

A while later the group found themselves back at the bar and to Kevin's dismay, Betty pulled Joaquin off to a private corner. " _Jeez_ , Betty you seem to be in the business of manhandling tonight." He teased.

"Sorry." She smiled sheepishly and released his arm. "Do you know anything about that girl that Jughead left with?" The alcohol left in her system kept her from beating around the bush.

"That was Toni Topaz. I used to go to South Side High with her but I heard she's doing online schooling now. It's funny you ask. She's actually _a lot_ like Jughead. Similar style, constantly making sarcastic remarks, endless appetite. She's like the girl version of him." He chuckled. "Between the two of you dragging him around tonight, he wasn't the leader I'd thought he'd turned into." He took another sip of the beer he was holding.

"Leader?" She questioned. She wasn't used to thinking of him in that way. A loner, yes. But she hadn't seen him in a group where he'd commanded very many people's attention. Not that he'd really ever tried such a thing. At least not when she was around.

"You haven't heard?" He deadpanned. "I thought gossip spread through this town like wildfire. He's the leader of the _Serpents_ now, Betty. It's part of the reason I'm back." He said eyeing Kevin. "He's asked me to be his right hand man." He puffed out his chest a bit.

"Oh." Was all she managed to squeak out.

Satisfied with his answers, despite the many more questions she had, they walked back to their friends. She was burnt out on new information. Veronica offered to let Betty stay the night since she was still a little too drunk to handle her mother and she graciously accepted.

* * *

She had even more questions when Jughead didn't show up to school the next day. _Not_ that she had looked for him or anything, but she'd usually see him at least in the halls or in the lunchroom. She hadn't really thought of her boyfriend at all until he was the first sitting at their usual table. Betty was the second and sat next to Archie hoping he had cooled down a bit since their previous talk.

"You didn't come home last night." He commented as he bit into his apple. "I got home from a late football practice and I watched for you, hoping we could talk. Where were you?" His tone didn't give much away on how he was feeling.

"I actually slept over at Veronica's." She bit her lip, not sure how much she should tell him. "She, Cheryl, and Kevin drug me to Innuendo last night."

"Oh, that's fun I guess." He wrinkled his nose a tiny bit and she knew he'd probably never step foot in a bar that was considered a gay bar.

"Yeah, I have a killer headache though." She said rubbing her temples.

"Wait, you actually _drank_?" He asked with a surprised smile. "Now, I'm kind of sad I missed it."

She didn't know why but she felt a small pang of guilt. "Jughead was there, I think his girlfriend was too. Oh, also Joaquin's back in town! He and Kevin have seemed to pick up right where they left off."

"That's good for Kevin, I know he's been missing Moose and I remember how tore up he was when Joaquin left." He lamented. "So Jughead has a _girlfriend_ , huh? What's she like?" He asked, watching her expression.

"Uh, I don't know. I didn't really meet her. She had pink hair and dressed kinda like him. But she showed up around 10 and drug him out. It looked like he was getting in trouble." She giggled.

"You know, maybe I was too quick to judge him. I should try and catch up with him." She could sense his remorse, knowing when he had more time to think about things he could be more level headed.

"That's a great idea, Archie." She smiled. She found herself daydreaming that they could all be friends again, perhaps Reggie and Cheryl too. Reggie, Cheryl, Veronica, and Kevin all found their way to the table and they somehow all managed to not have any small arguments break out like usual.

"Oh hey, there he is now. Weird, I thought he wasn't here today." Archie cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey, Jughead!" He waved him over. The table usually only sat six but Betty ended up mushed between Archie and Jughead, Reggie taking up a large space on the other side of the redheaded boy.

Jughead told them about his morning, how he had to miss the first couple of classes because his foster brother got a dime stuck up his nose early this morning while his foster sister had to work the morning shift at her job, and he was stuck taking the 6 year old to the hospital. "Who even thinks to put stuff like that up their nose?" He laughed and the whole table laughed with him. Betty noticed that he had really come out if his shell. Maybe he was a leader type after all. She didn't think this was the right time or place to ask him about the Serpent's hierarchy.

"So Jughead, I hear you have a girlfriend." Archie remarked. Not that they weren't all wondering about her after seeing her the night before.

"Jones getting some tail? That's _awesome_ dude!" Reggie perked up. "I thought Betty would have been the only one desperate enough to go for you." Archie punched his shoulder. "No offense, Betty." He added in the blonde's direction.

"Uh actually, that girl from the club wasn't my girlfriend. She was my foster sister, Toni." He smiled nervously. Betty tried ignoring the fact that Archie stiffened at his words. She felt herself relax a bit into his arm that tightened around her.

"Getting ass that lives under the same roof, now that's _legendary_. Sneaking around is so freaking hot!" Reggie persisted.

"She's pretty I guess, but it's not really like that. She's bisexual and _very_ heavily into girls at the moment. She's always using me to get into Innuendo so she could hopefully meet someone."

" _Bro_ , what you're saying is you have a chance! You should bring her to the dance tomorrow. She have any hot friends?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure we'd all like to meet her." Cheryl offered, looking amused.

"Yeah, I might just to get her out of the house. She's going to school online right now but I tried talking her into coming to Riverdale with me when we moved. Maybe if she made some friends who go here she'd be more open to the idea. And Reggie I'm not sure you'd be able to handle any of her friends." He chuckled. "Think of emo Veronicas and Cheryls."

"I could handle the _both_ of them if they'd let me." He made kissing noises at the two girls across from him. Cheryl made a loud puking noise in response. "Hey I'm not picky. I like all kinds of girls. It's all the same to me, cheerleaders, goth girls, dramatic theater nerds, dorky chicks like Betty turn me on too."

" _Gee_ , thanks Reg." She said sarcastically.

"So Toni could come get ready with us girls if she wanted, I have dresses she could borrow too if it's too short notice for her to find one." Veronica suggested.

"Yeah, that's really nice of you to offer Ronnie. I'll let her know." Jughead nodded.

The bell rang and Veronica and Betty walked to the common room. "What did you do that for?" Betty asked her best friend.

"Best chance to question her. I know you're trying to hide it but I _know_ you, and _you_ want to know more about Jughead. More than you're willing to ask him yourself. She _lives_ with him. She has all the inside knowledge. Why not get to know her?" She ticked off the reasons on her fingers.

"Have you all _forgotten_ about Archie? You all seem to have lost your minds and keep pushing me to be with Jughead when we don't know what he wants and no one has bothered to ask what I want." The blonde crossed her arms.

"B. Kev, Cher, and I all just want you to be happy. I know Cheryl is blunt but she means well and knows you're my best friend and I love you. And she loves me so she knows that if you're happy, I'll be happy. Kevin has known you you're whole _life_ and he's seen what being with Archie does to you. Neither of you seem all that happy. There isn't a _spark_. He hurt you and chose every other girl before he decided he wanted to be with you. We love Archie too but he made you his last choice. He'd have to start dating girls from other schools if he wants to be with a girl he hasn't chased before. Since he's so used to not trying hard to find someone, he settled for you." She regretted the last thing she said right away. " _Wait_ , Betty I didn't mean-"

"Excuse me, _settled_ for me?" She put her hands on her hips, shaking with anger. "You wouldn't think he'd stay with me for a year if I'm just someone he's _settled_ for do you? We have been next door neighbors since we were kids. I was there for him, and I've _always_ been there for him. We've always been best friends. We planned our wedding in the second grade. Oh, but thanks for reminding me how many other girls he's been with. He won't even _have_ sex with me!"

"There's that too!" Veronica cried out. "You two are great friends but maybe you guys aren't meant to be anything more than that. And you could be passing up something real. Which you ran away from when things got too heavy the last time."

"He's the freaking _leader_ of the Southside Serpents!" Betty yelled back. "I didn't want to date a gang member, he knew it was hard for me, he knew how sorry I was to hurt him. It was one of the _hardest_ things I've ever done to leave him. But my decision hasn't changed especially not if he's the one who _runs_ them. The other night he said he had business at Innuendo. Who knows what that could be. _Drugs_? And his 'foster sister' and him sure seemed to have a lot more than just a _sibling_ bond." She did air quotes when she mentioned Toni.

"You don't _know_ if he has drug business. You don't _know_ if the gang is all bad either. You stood up for his dad who happens to be the former leader once. You don't actually _know_ anything about his relationship with his foster sister other than you seem pretty freaking jealous. You only know what he's said about her. Which, I remember a time when his word alone used to be enough for you. The Betty I know would have been inviting her to the dance trying to be her friend, feelings for Jughead aside. Deny it all you want, but you still love him and he still loves you. It just feels like the only people who can't see it is you _two_!" The dark haired girl threw her hands up in the air.

"I love Archie! I'm not pining after my ex. What we had is in the past and it's going to stay that way. It was puppy love, it didn't actually _mean_ anything!"

Someone cleared their throat in the doorway. "Sorry ladies I was just coming to ask Betty if she wanted to go back over our Anatomy project. But I'm gonna go. You two seem pretty _busy_." Before he turned Betty caught the pained expression on his face.

"Jughead _wait_ ," She stood up and followed him out the door.

 **A/N: So I've been trying to make each chapter a little bit longer than the previous for you guys. Let me know what you guys are thinking about how things are going so far. I thought about making Archie kind of a dick but I like nice Archie so I'm gonna find a better reason to get him out of the way for my beloved ship.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the song Closer by The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone who followed and reviewed this story! Knowing people actually like what I write motivates me to write more. :)**

"Jughead, _wait_!" Betty called after him again. She finally caught up to him and put a hand on his shoulder which he immediately shook off before whipping around to face her.

"What, you want to rub it in my face some more? That Archie got the girl and I didn't?"

"Jughead, I-"

"Just save it Betty. I don't want to hear any excuses. I heard enough from you and Veronica."

"What _exactly_ did you hear?" She crossed her arms defensively.

"Oh, I heard enough. How you still don't think of me as anything other than a gang member, how you and Archie have had your wedding planned since second grade, how what _we_ had meant nothing. You know coming back here really wasn't some ploy to get you back. Not everything is about you. I actually argued against it, I wanted to do school online like Toni but they don't have AP classes online. I insisted I didn't need to take AP, that I could just get my GED early but my foster parents _actually_ believe I could go to college, something no one in my family has ever done. You know what, that was was a mistake. As soon as I'm 18 I'm done with this fucking school and everyone in it." He shook his head and walked out the front doors.

Betty followed him out and found him smoking a cigarette at a picnic table. "You're going to get kicked out if Weatherbee catches you."

"I could care less right now, Betty." He said her name with venom dripping from his words.

"Look, I know there's more to you than being a gang member." She said sitting across for him, hoping he'd meet her eyes. "You are an amazing writer, you care about people, and you've always been the _one_ person who challenges me and never makes decisions for me."

"Spare me." He spat sarcastically.

"But you're the _leader_ , how do you think that looks? I know in the past the Serpents dealt drugs. Not anything more than weed but that's still enough that if anyone got caught it could mean jail time. And when a gang mentions any sort of business the word 'legal' doesn't exactly come to mind."

" _Maybe_ by being the leader I was hoping to clean up the Serpent's act. They get such a bad rep in this town and majority of them are good people. _Maybe_ my business didn't actually have anything to do with Innuendo other than the fact that my foster sister always drags me there so they know me well at the door. _Maybe_ I invited Joaquin back here to be my second so that one day if I did go to college, I'd have someone I trust to take over. And I might smoke weed but I'm _not_ selling it."

"Well that's great! Those are wonderful things and I'm sorry for assuming." Betty bit her lip. Jughead didn't say anything as he took another hit off of his menthol. "You know I don't _actually_ think that what we had was nothing." She said barely above a whisper. "It's just Veronica, and Kevin, hell even Cheryl all seem to think that you coming back means that we're just going to pick up where we left off like Kevin and Joaquin. And they all act like Archie isn't a big factor in that. They all constantly pester me about it and push me and it _confuses_ me. They fill my head with all this stuff about you and it makes everything so complicated. It makes me think that if things were different that maybe…" She trailed off.

"That _what_ , Betty?" He stared hard into her green eyes daring her to finish her thought.

"Well that maybe if Archie and I weren't together right now, you and I might have had a chance of what they all talk about, actually happening. Ever since you've been back, I keep feeling like I want to be near you. I couldn't _not_ talk to you. And that scares me. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"I know what you mean." He sighed and took off his beanie running a hand through his hair. "I feel the same way, it's like I'm drawn to you. I mean, I'm not some asshole who's going to swoop in and try to steal someone's girlfriend. Especially when that _someone_ used to be my best friend. But I can't pretend that I don't still have some feelings for you." He stared down looking at his discarded beanie on the table.

"Well for now, can we just agree to be friends?" She asked, eyes full of hope.

"Sure, friends." He smiled slightly. "Save me a dance tomorrow night?" He stubbed his cigarette out.

"Yeah, I suppose I could do that." She smiled warmly. Soon the bell rang for 6th period. "We should get to class." He nodded and followed her back inside the school.

* * *

Once in Anatomy, he went to the back of the class next to Reggie and she sat at her lab table near the window. Kevin came into class at the last second and Betty could tell he was bubbling with new information. " _So_ guess who got a date to the dance? I'll give you hint, it's me!" He sat down happily.

"Joaquin I'm guessing?"

He grinned and nodded back. "We are picking out our tuxes tonight." He sighed dreamily. "Yesterday we were going to be four losers going to the dance with Veronica and Cheryl being the _only_ ones who could get real dates. By tomorrow, we will have a full limo. The girls, Joaquin and I, you and Archie, Jughead and Toni, and maybe Reggie will surprise us all and find a date."

Betty bit her lip and fought the urge to turn around and look at Jughead. She didn't like hearing his named paired with Toni's for some reason. "Kev, I'm not sure if Archie is still planning on being my date, we haven't discussed it. Yesterday after lunch we fought and today at lunch it seemed like things were okay between us again but we still haven't really talked things out."

"It'll all work out one way or another by tomorrow, I'm sure." He waved his hand dismissively. "Tell me more about this dress."

"That," She opened her textbook, "is going to be a surprise." She smiled.

"Oh, mysterious. I like it."

"Speaking of mysterious, did you know Joaquin is possibly taking over for the Serpents after Jughead leaves for college?" She whispered.

Kevin sighed. "Yeah, it's been discussed. Kinda funny since the other day my dad asked me if he wanted me to follow in his footsteps."

"Sheriff Keller wants you to work for him?" Her eyebrows went up in surprise.

"Well, it's obviously up to me and I'm thinking about it. Just think if I became a cop and he became a gang ringleader, we'd make quite the odd couple. A classic Romeo and Juliet situation." Betty couldn't tell if he thought of that as a good or a bad thing, with him, it really could go either way.

"Hopefully with _less_ family feuds and without, you know, the whole dying part." He rolled his eyes at her comment.

"Speaking of Romeo and Juliet," Kevin glanced between Betty and shifted his gaze to Jughead. "How are things going there?"

"There's nothing going on. We actually agreed on being friends earlier. He said he has no intention of taking me from Archie." She kept her tone even.

" _Just_ friends, huh?" He eyed her face.

"Yes." She straightened her back.

"You're not telling me something." He whispered accusingly.

"He _may_ have admitted that he still has feelings for me." She bit her lip.

"Elizabeth Cooper! You're blushing." He teased. "What did you say?"

"Well, I _might_ have said if things were different, that there was a possibility that we be together."

"Things being different, like Archie?" He raised a well groomed brow.

"Shh. It sounds bad when you put it that way. But I'm not making any plans to leave Archie by any means and Jughead's not actively pursuing me. That's why we agreed to be friends."

"Well, good luck with that." He breathed.

* * *

After school Betty found Archie on his way to the locker room before football practice. "Hey Arch." She smiled at him.

"Hey, Betty, what's up?" His eyes seemed to wander everywhere but her.

"Well, I was just wondering if everything was okay between us now?" She tried looking into his hazel eyes.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" He smiled a little too quickly.

"I mean for the first half of the week you seemed pretty upset with me." She crossed her arms.

"I will admit, Jughead coming back took me by surprise. I got jealous and possessive. I'm sorry for that, Betty. He doesn't seem as bad as I thought and I'm glad I'm giving him a chance." She was happy he had seen things differently now.

"Are you still going to be my date for the dance?" She asked swinging their hands nervously.

"I wouldn't want to go with anyone else." He smiled at her. "I'll text you when I'm home, but it'll probably be a late practice again. I'll see you later." He went into the locker room before she could say anything back.

Betty went to the girls' and started getting ready for cheerleading. She came into the gym a little late but was glad because otherwise Veronica would have cornered her when they were changing and she wasn't quite sure what to say to her yet.

They practiced a routine for next week's football game a few times then worked on some basket tosses. Veronica tried making eye contact a few times as Betty was one of the people tossing her, but the blonde just decided to stay focused on the task at hand.

After they hit the showers and were changing back into their regular clothes Veronica finally spoke up. "I'm _sorry_ about earlier. I shouldn't have pushed you so hard about the stuff with your ex. How did things go with Jughead, anyway?"

"He was really hurt, at first. Then we talked about things and we ended up deciding to be friends. He said that he didn't have any intention of taking me from Archie and I don't plan on leaving him without good reason." Betty lifted her sweater over her head.

"And you're happy with that?" The brunette asked sincerely.

"For now, yes." She paused. "He kind of admitted he still had feelings for me though." He blonde eyebrows wrinkled with confusion.

"Tell me _everything_!" Veronica grabbed her shoulder a little too enthusiastically, not that Betty didn't expect this type of reaction at the news.

"Well, he actually just outright said it." She chewed her lip. "And I feel guilty because when he did, I was _happy_ he felt that way. I even said that if things were different we might have even had a chance of being together." She lifted her foot to the bench and tied her shoe. "I probably shouldn't have said that but it would feel wrong to just admit I still had feelings as bluntly as he did, even if you were right about them. But I felt like I had to be honest with him since he was with me." She groaned. "This is all so confusing. I thought Archie was all I ever wanted and he's never treated me bad but it definitely feels like _something's_ missing. I don't get the same feeling just by looking at Archie as I do with Jughead. I forgot that feelings this intense even existed. Being with Archie has always been easy and being with Jughead is always _so_ complicated. And I just don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Look B, we can't control who we have feelings for and it's not always the people we _want_ to have feelings for. Do you really think I would have picked Cheryl of all people to make me weak in the knees?"

"Hey, I heard that." The redhead spoke from behind her.

Veronica giggled before turning back to Betty. "Just _don't_ do something you'll end up regretting. If you decide you want to be with Jughead, make sure Archie is one of the first people to know. Preferably, before anything happens between the two of you that you can't take back. He's my friend too and no one wants to see him hurt. I doubt you want to lose your friendship with him." She paused. "I doubt you want to lose your Heathcliff either."

" _Please_ , don't call Jughead that." Betty rolled her eyes.

"Hey, it's not my fault your life is comparable to several works of classic literature." She goaded.

"While I hate to interrupt another conversation about Betty's _fascinating_ love life, I believe you promised me a date at Pop's." Cheryl interjected.

"I think we should invite Betty. She kind of needs a friend right now." Veronica smiled at the blonde.

"Fine, but you're paying." The redhead rolled her eyes.

"Well, I was supposed to talk to Archie after we both got home from practice but it might be a late practice for him, he's been having a lot of those lately." Betty bit her lip.

"How about on our way out, we check to see if the football practice is still going on and if he's still here, we can invite him along. It would be like a double date." V clasped her hands together excitedly.

Neither of the two girls could come up with a solid enough argument for Veronica's plan so the three left the school and walked around the outside of the building to the empty football field.

"Well, it looks like they got done early and my Louis Vuitton's are caked in mud can we go now?" Cheryl snapped impatiently.

"Huh, that's weird." Betty murmured to herself before being pulled along by Veronica.

"What if on our way, we stop in your neighborhood and you can fetch him. Throw a pebble at his window or something romantic." The raven haired girl suggested.

At Betty's house the blonde hopped out of Cheryl's red convertible and made her way between the two houses and threw a couple very small pebbles at her boyfriend's window. There was no answer and Betty climbed the outside of her porch to see if she could get a better look inside. The room was dark with no signs of life. "He's not home." She called to her friends and got back into the car.

Betty sat quietly in the backseat on the way to Pop's, Cheryl and Veronica were arguing how to color coordinate for the dance without going too overboard and looking God forbid, tacky. Or both girls being too independent with their fashion choices and not matching at all. Of course they both had massive closets that Betty's entire bedroom would fit in. With numerous dresses for any occasion in just about every color you could think of.

"Betty, could you please tell your nutty best friend that velvet is not making a comeback. Especially not in silver." Cheryl looked into the mirror at the blonde in the back seat.

Before Betty could answer, Veronica interjected. "How about you tell your sister in law that ball gowns are strictly for prom. I'm sorry dear," She placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "But that _teal_ would just not match your hair." She picked a long orange lock off the other girl's shoulder.

Betty would laugh if it wasn't so tense. Even though the girls had survived their rivalry by becoming a couple, they still sometimes behaved like frenemies. "Look guys, we're here!" She exclaimed a little more excited sounding than she was, hopefully the girls would drop their conversation. Betty hated getting in the middle if one of their fights.

Inside, the girls found Jughead sitting in a booth looking like he was waiting for someone. "Mind if we sit?" Cheryl asked accompanied by her huge smile and climbed into the booth without waiting for an answer.

"I guess that was a rhetorical question." He grumbled.

"Who are you waiting for?" Veronica asked the boy next to her.

"Toni. To be honest I kind up played up her being into girls side for Reggie's sake earlier. She's really is bi, but she's having some sort of boy drama right now." He slouched uncomfortably, as if her boy drama was the last thing he wanted to get in the middle of. "Luckily, she also heals all wounds by drowning her sorrows in burgers and milkshakes. _That_ is something I can always help with."

"Well I don't know if you know this Jughead, but us three girls happen to be pretty well versed in boy drama." Betty shot Veronica an annoyed look hoping she wouldn't make things even more awkward between her and Jughead. "I'm sure we could almost call ourselves experts." The Spanish girl smiled.

"She found out some scummy guy she's been seeing actually has a girlfriend." He rolled his eyes. "This guy and his girlfriend apparently go to Riverdale too. _That's_ why she was so opposed to going there in the first place I guess."

"Ooh who's the guy?" Cheryl asked.

"Don't know, but if I did, I probably would have decked him right in the face by now." He flexed his fingers. "Are you guys willing to help me find out?" He raised his eyebrows at them.

"Most definitely." Cheryl answered for the three of them, loving to have any reason to learn as much gossip as she could.

 **A/N: Sorry for the late update guys, had a busy weekend. Love to hear feedback from you guys!**


	7. Chapter 7

"Toni really is a good person. She's not usually one to run around with guys that are taken. I guess she met him at a concert over the summer and he was with the band or something. Anyways, they hung out for a few weeks, but once school started he began acting all weird and when she confronted him about it, and he admitted that he had a girlfriend. She wouldn't tell me much more but maybe you guys can get it out of her. We're close but she can be pretty private about her dating life. I didn't even find out she was seeing someone until she drug me out of Innuendo last night, upset about finding out the fact that he had a girlfriend." Jughead said with his arms slung across the seat behind him.

"Well now's our chance." Veronica whispered as Toni walked through the doors.

"Gosh, Forsythe, I didn't realize you were so popular at your old school." The pink haired girl mused as she took a seat next to Veronica. Betty looked a bit surprised at Jughead. He usually doesn't like getting called by his dad's name.

"Trust me, he's not." Cheryl smiled at her across the table. "Cheryl Blossom," She extended her hand as if someone were going to bend down to kiss it.

"Toni Topaz." The short girl smiled nervously and awkwardly shook Cheryl's hand. "Sorry to hear what happened to your brother."

"That was years ago." She waved her hand dismissively. Most people knew this was still a pretty sore subject for her. "The beauty next to you is Veronica Lodge, I'm sure you've heard of her father, Hiram Lodge. And this is Betty Cooper." She jerked her head next to her.

"Oh, _the_ Betty Cooper. Trust me I've heard _all_ about you. Probably too much." She rolled her eyes in her foster brother's direction.

"So, at lunch today someone suggested that you come to the Riverdale back to school dance and I think that would be a good idea to socialize you more." Jughead said to Toni.

She snorted. "That sounds like about as much fun as dragging my tits through miles of shards of glass. And who are you to suddenly talk about who _needs_ to be socialized? Outside of the Serpents, you don't really have any friends." She stole one of his fries.

"Well I've connected with some old friends back at Riverdale High and I know you have a lot of preconceived notions about it, but I think you'd fit in just fine."

She seemed to just about choke on the milkshake she was finishing for him. "Yeah, because my _biggest_ concern is fitting in, I think I might even join the cheerleading squad." She cackled sarcastically.

The table fell silent. "Um, Toni, all these girls are actually River Vixens."

"Cheryl and I co-captain." Veronica smiled, trying to break the tension.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't actually mean anything by that. I mean just look at me, cheering isn't exactly my thing." Toni said apologetically.

"It's not everyone's." Cheryl gave her a tight smile. "You should still come to the dance though, I host an after party every year and anybody who's _anybody_ will be there."

"It's in a really creepy mansion. It has its own graveyard and everything." Jughead added, as if it were a good thing.

"Will I have to wear a dress?" She grimaced.

"I happen to have plenty to chose from if you'd like to get ready with us at the Pembrooke. I'm sure I could find something that fits your style." Veronica suggested as Toni looked over her, as if assessing her style.

"Deal. But Jughead has to come too. I'm not being put through this excruciating night alone." Toni crossed her arms.

"I'm sure that can be arranged. I heard he's already asked a _girl_ to save a dance for him." Veronica smiled and looked between Betty and Jughead who both immediately turned red.

"Who else will be going?" Toni asked sipping the strawberry milkshake that matches the exact shade of her pastel hair.

"You know Joaquin, and his boyfriend Kevin Keller." Jughead responded.

"Oh and Betty's snoozefest football player boyfriend will be going too." Cheryl added happily.

"Cheryl didn't you date just about every guy on the football team before you and Ronnie got together?" Betty looked at her.

"Exactly, so I know how boring they all are and that you're lucky if you find one smarter than the guy from The Blind Side." The redhead retorted, not looking up from her phone.

"I think I'm gonna get along with you guys just fine." Toni sat back in her seat and smiled.

* * *

Back at Betty's house later that night, Archie still wasn't home and didn't answer his phone. She turned out her light and went to bed hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.

* * *

The four girls stood comfortably in a closet big enough that Barbie would be jealous. "Okay ladies, we have a few hours before the boys arrive to pick us up. My closet is your closet and nothing is off limits. Unless _I_ want to wear it of course." Veronica held her arms out in display of her clothes. "Betty, your dress is in my bedroom since we already found you something earlier this week."

The blonde went into her friend's bedroom and sure enough, on the canopy bed, lay the blue dress. Blue was usually Veronica's color but since she usually opted to match Cheryl, she'd been wearing a lot more reds and purples.

Once Betty had the dress on she gave herself a once over in the mirror. The fit and flare dress was blue lace on the top half and black on the bottom. It reminded her of the top she'd worn Monday. Except that the straps we're about an inch and a half thick and her navel was completely hidden, thank God. It was a bit low cut for her liking and a lot of her back was exposed but she did had to admit it looked good on her. Her hair was down and wavy, and her eye makeup Cheryl had done on her was gold, really making her green eyes pop. Her lips were red and even though this overall look was darker than her average style, she felt pretty and confident.

"You look like a real life Barbie." Toni announced walking into the room behind Betty. She was wearing a silver velvet dress. Betty guessed it was the one Veronica was contemplating wearing. It had spaghetti straps and showed far more cleavage than Betty's. It was skin tight, as if it were wrapped around her. "I think, you may even make Jughead the least bit jealous of your boyfriend tonight." She whispered once she was close up behind her.

"Thanks." Betty smiled unsure how to respond. "That dress looks amazing on you. Maybe even better than it looks on Veronica."

"Hey, I heard that." V said, waltzing into the room in a short purple dress. It was strapless and had a sweetheart neckline with a full tulle skirt. "But it is true." She smiled.

"There you are, my little cupcake." Cheryl teased and strolled up to Veronica kissing her on the cheek. Cheryl's dress was also purple but it had two pieces exposing a section of her midriff. The skirt was a long purple tulle like Veronica's and the top was the same shade of purple in lace, with a high neckline. "Well ladies I will say that you guys clean up a lot better than my _old_ minions."

"I think that's the closest thing to a compliment I've ever heard her say." Betty whispered quietly to Toni, making her giggle.

"So, Toni, do you have a boyfriend?" Veronica asked.

"Or girlfriend. We obviously don't judge. Jughead mentioned you play for both teams." Cheryl interjected.

"Uh, well I'm not really seeing anyone exclusively. I'm keeping my options open. I was seeing a pretty nice guy until I found out he had a girlfriend. Kinda makes him not so nice anymore, right? Anyways I broke that off Wednesday night and Thursday he tried convincing me to still see him even though he seemed to feel pretty guilty about cheating on her. When I refused, he just begged me not to tell anyone. What a dick." She shook her pink locks. "He goes to your school so I'm really hoping I don't see him at the dance tonight."

"Those are the worst kinds of guys." Betty said, putting a hand on the short girl's shoulder. "Maybe you could find someone to make him jealous tonight. I'll even loan you my boyfriend for a dance or two."

"I can't say no to that offer. Thanks, Betty."

"I'm sure Archie won't mind. It'll be nice for him to get a chance to dance with someone else. He complains about my two left feet. I step on his toes too much." She clasped her hands and looked down sheepishly.

"Wait, Archie Andrews?" Toni held up her hand.

"Yeah, why do you know him?"

"Um, no I just- he plays with Josie and the Pussycats right?" She knitted her dark eyebrows.

"Yep, the one and the same." Betty beamed proudly.

"Yeah I uh went to one of their concerts over the summer."

"You all look fabulous!" Kevin exclaimed walking into Veronica's bedroom. "Limo's downstairs."

"Should we swipe some of mother's champagne for the ride?" Veronica gave everyone a devilish grin.

"I could use a drink." Toni sighed.

"I second that!" Kevin said following them out if the room.

The five of them walked down to the limo and met Jughead, Archie, and Joaquin standing outside of the limo.

"You chariot awaits, ladies." Jughead held him arms out to display the elongated car.

Once everyone was in the limo, Veronica insisted they all have a glass of champagne. "To new and old friends." She held up her cup smiling at Jughead and Toni. Everyone repeated her and clinked glasses before taking a sip.

Betty couldn't help but notice that they had sat in the furthest possible seats from her and Archie. They were whispering about something and and Jughead's eyes grew wide. "Are you sure?" He asked his pink haired date and she nodded solemnly. They didn't talk for the rest of the ride.

Once they got to the high school, Jughead started pulling Archie away from the group. "Sorry Betty gotta borrow your date for a few minutes. You guys head inside we'll catch up to you." He waved them ahead.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. You guys go. Just need to have some guy talk." He replied, tightening his grip on the redhead's shoulder.

"Come on Betty," Kevin grabbed her hand. "Josie promised to play a cover of You Don't Own Me towards the beginning and I don't wanna miss it!" He dragged her along.

Joaquin and Betty decided to get punch while everyone else decided to join the mob on the dance floor. "So you're dating Archie now?" He asked her and she nodded in response. "Well that is something I didn't see coming."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well didn't Jughead and Archie used to be best friends?"

"They were but they kinda had something happen between them before Jughead and I ever dated. Neither of them really talk about it so no one's really sure exactly what went down." She took a sip of her punch. "Oh ew, somebody spiked this!"

"That-" Someone slurred behind her. "Would be me." A drunk Reggie Mantle grinned down at her when she turned around.

"Reggie you're gonna get caught if you don't get cleaned up a little. Come on." She pulled him out into the hall. His tie had come undone so she tied it and straightened his shirt under his jacket. His usually perfect gelled hair had become unkempt and she wet her hands at the fountain and tried to replicate his usual style as best she could. At her locker, she gave him mints and sprayed a bit of perfume on him.

"Hey, now I'm gonna smell like girl." He whined.

"Well, it's better than a distillery. Come on, if you can walk straight, I'll let you back into the dance."

He began walking toe to toe like at a sobriety checkpoint. "If you want me to say the alphabet backwards, just know that I can't even do that sober."

"That's okay." She giggled. "Alright let's head back."

"Hey Betty?" He asked falling in step with her back towards the gym.

"Yeah?" The blonde looked up at her friend.

"You look really nice tonight." He commented and offered his elbow out to her for her to take.

"Thank you Reggie." She smiled slightly and leaned into his shoulder as they walked through the gym doors. "I'm gonna drop you off at the snack station okay? You need to eat a bit and I heavily recommend switching to water for the night."

"Yes, nurse Betty." He saluted. "Hey I know her." He pointed at the pink haired girl among her group of friends.

"That's nice Reggie." She patted his shoulder and began walking away.

"Yeah she's been hanging out a lot with-" He started searching the room as a realization dawned upon him. He looked between her and Betty when he didn't seem to find what he was looking for. "Hey where's Archie?"

"That's a good question." She looked around the room with him. Jughead seemed to rejoin the group but her boyfriend was nowhere to be found. "Why do you ask?" She looked back at the jock.

"Uh, no reason." He quickly turned away from her. "Hey Ethel, hit me with some of those crab puffs!" The girl serving the snacks obliged and Betty walked over to her friends.

As she got closer they saw her approaching and all seemed to wear the same look on their face, it was kind of sad, like they pitied her? "Guys, what's wrong? Where's Archie?" She asks.

"He left." Jughead said not meeting her eyes.

"Well should I go after him? What did you say to him Jughead?" She looked at the gym doors contemplating how far he could have gotten.

"That, I am not at liberty to discuss. You should probably hear it from him. You shouldn't follow him though." He still wouldn't look her in the eye.

"Yeah, please stay, enjoy the dance." Veronica grabbed her wrist.

Betty eyed her group of friends who all seemed to be wearing looks of guilt on their faces. "What's going on you guys? Kevin?" She raised her eyebrows at him knowing he'd be the first to crack.

"Archie has a secret he needs to tell you but he chickened out and fled." He chewed his lip.

"Do you know what that secret is?" She crossed her arms.

"Can't say. Oh look Joaquin there's Josie let's go say hi!" He pulled his boyfriend away.

"Cheryl?" She turned to the redhead hoping her love of gossip would make her spill.

"Veronica made me promise I wouldn't start any drama tonight. At least not until my after party. So I'm not aloud to discuss it either." She inspected her perfect nails.

Lastly, she turned to her best friend and found the dark haired girl looking down at her expensive shoes. "I can't believe you guys." Betty said shaking her head and backing away from them. "I'm going to go look for him."

She got halfway down the hallway before a hand clapped her shoulder and spun her around. "Betty, please stay."

"Why? You're all keeping this supposedly big secret from me for Archie. You know me, I'm just going to worry about it the entire time and it will drive me crazy." She threw up her hands.

"First of all, we're not doing _anything_ for Archie. We just think it's best that he tells you. Which he will, he promised me when he and I talked earlier. I'm sorry he left. He got scared I guess. But he's your next door neighbor, it's not like you won't be able to track him down this weekend. Now, your friends all want to spend time with you. Just because Archie bailed doesn't mean that you have to too." Jughead tried to reach out to her before she stepped away from his touch.

"I'm not bailing, I just need to know what's going on. He's been acting weird ever since school started and to be honest, I just thought it had to do with you being back but that's obviously not it and I just have a really bad feeling." She searched his eyes hoping to find some sort of answer.

"What if I could _maybe_ find a way to calm your anxiety a bit. Just for tonight?"

"What could-" Her eyes went wide. "Jughead! You brought drugs to a school event?!"

"Hey, it's not 'drugs' it's medication. And I didn't exactly bring it with me. It's kind of already here." He started walking down the hall and she followed him.

"You keep weed in your locker?!" She whispered loudly as he pulled out a pre-rolled joint.

"Only for emergencies. I also have eye drops so as long as you can act like a mostly sane person, you'll be fine." He closed the locker. "Follow me." They walked out the back door of the school Betty found Monday.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Somewhere no one will find us." He whispered back and she couldn't help but feel a little jolt up her spine at the prospect of being alone with him.

They walked across the parking lot and into the woods. The walked a little further until the trees covered them and found a fallen tree to sit on. Jughead took off his jacket and layed it on top of the tree trunk that had developed a thick layer of moss before offering the seat to her.

"I can't believe you've talked me into this for a second time this week. This is _illegal_." She crossed her arms.

"It's actually medically and recreationally legal in several states, _including_ this one." He said in a matter-o-fact tone as he lit the joint. "And I haven't talked you into anything. Both times I've literally just asked you. No peer pressure here."

"Okay well you've got me there but you always ask at the right times. By the way, you do realize it's _not_ legal for minors." She countered.

"Neither is underage drinking but I sure know a whole hell of a lot of people who do that. I think even Reggie was drunk just now." He jerked his thumb in the direction of the school and handed it to her.

"Yeah he was, I actually cleaned him up a bit so he wouldn't get caught." She put the paper up to her lips and inhaled.

"And if need be, I'll do the same for you." He teased.

"Maybe I should just go home after this. See if Archie is there. Well not like at my house but across the way, you know."

"Trust me, that is not a conversation you want to have high. Besides, with how beautiful you look it would be a waste for you to not even get a chance to dance. Which, I happen to remember you _owing_ me one." His lips curled up into a smirk and for a short moment Betty thought about kissing him. She shook her head as if to knock loose the thoughts she was having.

"Just so you know, this," She held up the now half of a joint. "will not be a common thing I do. I've just had a long week."

"Oh no, you've _ruined_ my plan to get you addicted. You were supposed to dreadlock your hair and start a reggae band with me by the end of the year. Now who am I supposed to have play bongos?" She giggled and swatted him on the shoulder. "Seriously though, if you're only concern is the legality of it, you should know that drugging and almost drowning dumb jock is illegal, so is breaking into a teacher's car, and keeping a gun that isn't legally registered to you. God _knows_ how many other laws you've broken since I've been gone." He teased.

"Okay so I guess it's not _that_ bad. I am not going to start doing it often though." She shrugged.

"No one's asking you to. You can excerise your right to _just say 'no'_ anytime you want." He lightly bumped his shoulder to hers.

"Yeah I know, but this seems to be a big part of your life now and we're all friends again so I figured I'd be spending more time with you." Betty shrugged again.

"It sometimes just make things a bit more tolerable. I have my own anxieties you know. And it's not like I do it excessively. I mean the other day I was stressed because it was my first day back. Tonight, I'm trying to help you enjoy this dance." He flicked what the last little bit of the joint that was too small to continue smoking. He stood up and offered his hand. "We should be getting back, our friends are probably wondering where we went."

She blushed. "What should we tell them?"

"The truth. That we took a walk." Jughead smiled down at her. "Now how about that dance?"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So sorry for the late update! I promise you I have not forgotten about this story! I've had a lot going on but I've tried to write a little each day. Each chapter being a bit longer takes a bit longer to write and I sort of lose steam once I get about halfway through. Also, this chapter officially make this story rated M so fair warning. I love hearing feedback from you guys!**

Once back inside the gym, their friends were all out on the dance floor. To Betty, the music sounded better than before and she felt it flow through her body. They danced in a group similar to the other night at the club. Until Jughead noticed Toni wasn't with the group. "I'm gonna go find my sister." He yelled over the thumping music.

A few songs later, Veronica and Betty were taking a break by the snacks. It was obviously an excuse for Veronica to question her friend about the 'walk' she went on with Jughead. As a reluctant Betty filled Veronica in on the latest details about things between her and Jughead, she spotted him and Toni across the gym near the punch. It seemed his foster sister had a bit too much of the spiked juice. The two girls didn't say anything for a while after Betty finished her story and they just swayed in place with the music. Betty watched Jughead and Veronica watched Betty.

" _Saudade_." The dark haired girl breathed dramatically.

"Huh?" Her friend said, still not looking away from the boy in the crown beanie.

"Saudade: A deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves." She put a well manicured hand over her heart. "It's Portuguese."

"Oh, what's the English translation?" The blonde asked.

"There isn't one. It's simply untranslatable. And I think that's _beautiful_." V swooned.

"I'm beginning to think you might've had too much of that special punch." The taller girl raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"I did an essay once on untranslatable words back in New York. Since I am a romantic, I happened to find a bunch of words to do with love." She lifted her hand to her chin in thought. "Maybe what you're feeling is more like 'la douleur exquise.' French for the heartbreaking pain of wanting someone you can't have."

"Okay Miss Wikipedia, calm down." The blonde rolled her eyes.

"You should go take him up on that dance he asked for." She pushed her friend in his direction as a slow song came on.

"He's taking care of Toni, I don't wanna bother them." Betty replied, shaking her head.

"I can take care of her, you have mints and perfume in your locker, correct?" Veronica asked still pushing Betty lightly across the room.

"How do you know? Did you break into my locker?" She asked her friend quizzically.

"And I'm about to do it again. I had to borrow your Calculus homework and I happened to have a bobby pin. Besides, I learned from the best." She smiled at her best friend.

"You are unbelievable." Betty's blonde hair swayed around her shoulders as she shook her head disapprovingly at her best friend.

"Hey guys! I really wanted to thank you for bringing me! You guys are all so _nice_." Toni smiled at the girls.

"She's a lot nicer when she's drunk." Jughead commented, taking a sip of punch.

"I think," Veronica began "we're gonna keep you." She smiled a the pastel haired girl. "I'm gonna take you and clean you up a bit in the hall is that okay?" She asked before the other girl nodded. As she began guiding her away, she turned back to the pair. "Oh by the way, Betty is ready for that dance she owes you." She smiled sweetly at him as her best friend glared daggers at her over his shoulder.

Jughead turned back to Betty. "I wasn't really serious. You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, I want to." She said a little too quickly, causing her to blush. "I mean, I should at least try to enjoy some dancing since my date bailed."

He smiled and took her hand leading her out onto the dancefloor near Joaquin and Kevin. She buried her face in his shoulder as they swayed to an old Taylor Swift song. Betty had sometimes wished she could go back to December too. A giggle escaped her lips when she thought about how each time they'd dance together recently, the music had always seemed to be fitting.

"What is it?" He whispered into her ear.

"Your jacket smells like moss." This was true but she didn't feel like expressing her real thoughts.

"Is it a bad smell?" He asked with a hint of insecurity in his voice.

"No." She smiled and nuzzled into his shoulder without thinking.

"Betty." He warned but didn't stop swaying.

"I'm sorry I wasn't thinking. It just smelled good." She straightened out and put a bit more space between them while they swayed with the tune.

"I just don't want to cross any lines." He said next to her ear. She shivered as his hot breath caressed her skin. "I am _not_ about to be the reason Riverdale's power couple breaks up. And when you do things like that or even when you bite your lip, it makes it hard to control myself."

"Oh. I didn't realize you were so _sensitive_." She taunted.

"Only when it comes to you, Betts. Literally if you were any other girl, I wouldn't think twice about it." He shrugged.

"Why me?" She looked into his blue-green eyes.

"I think we should maybe discuss this another time." He said, stepping away from her as the song ended. "I think I should go check on Toni."

"Yeah I should probably find Cheryl and Kevin to make sure they haven't killed each other yet." Betty concluded.

The pair scanned the room and found everyone together sitting or standing near some chairs that were pushed against the wall. Cheryl and Veronica seemed to be disagreeing about something in hushed tones. The boys were sitting and talking animatedly. And Toni was sitting...on Reggie's lap?

"Really Toni, _this_ guy?" Jughead asked with crossed arms and a disappointed look on his face.

"He's nice." She smiled and nuzzled into him.

"Maybe to you. Are you ready to go home?" He looked at her expectantly.

Before she could answer Cheryl interjected. "Oh no one's going home just yet. The dance may just about be almost over but my party is just beginning. In fact, we should all head there now before the other guests start arriving. And anyone is welcome to stay, especially you." She smiled and booped Toni's nose affectionately before stepping out into the hall to call the limo back.

"Do you even want to go to this party?" He asked his usually antisocial sister.

"Oh please, Forsythe? I want to spend more time with my new friends." She grinned at the group around her. His look of contempt softened, knowing she longed to find friends as much as he did deep down.

"Wait, your real name is _Forsythe_?!" Reggie questioned excitedly. "Ah man, I really always thought your parents _actually_ named you Jughead."

Jughead rolled his eyes not bothering to answer the jock's remark and slumped his shoulders in defeat knowing he couldn't go home without Toni.

* * *

At a newly rebuilt Thornhill, previously burnt down by Cheryl, the floorplan resembled the old house and the interior had been updated. They still used dark colors, and it was still pretty creepy. Joaquin and Kevin began setting out snacks while Veronica and Cheryl we're preparing refreshments. Betty had a feeling she'd let them talk her into drinking that night as her and Jughead babysat Toni and Reggie. Guests began arriving soon after things were properly set up.

"Okay listen up peasants, it's time to play a game." Cheryl strolled into the living room with a familar empty bottle in hand. "You all remember how to play my version of seven minutes in heaven right?" She flashed her sickly sweet smile around the room. "As the hostess, I will go first." She spun the bottle lightly and it made only one rotation and landed on Veronica who was seated next to her. "This just confirms what I've always known. I'm the _only_ one worthy of you." She took her girlfriend's hand and they went inside the closet.

"She really is an expert at rigging this game isn't she?" Jughead whispered to Betty. She tried holding in her giggle so hard it almost made her spill her drink. "Oh no, am I gonna have to babysit you now too?" He asks her.

"This is only my second one but everytime I let Veronica make me a drink she tends to be pretty heavy handed." She was careful not to slur.

"She's probably trying to lower your inhibitions. You're so tightly wound, if you liked girls at all, you'd probably still be in the closet. _Maybe_ she's hoping to coax you out." He took a sip of his drink.

"She is _not_! She has Cheryl." She slapped his shoulder lightly at his comment.

"You think if you were available in that way to her that she'd stick with Cheryl?" He remarked in disbelief. "Please, she kissed you the day after she first met you. Don't try and tell me Veronica's only interested in being _friends_ with you."

"I'd beg to differ." Cheryl said behind them with annoyance oozing from her voice. "Just for that Jones, it's your turn now."

Before he could protest, she spun the bottle for him and it landed on...Betty. The blonde felt her face flush.

"Looks like you two have some catching up to do." Cheryl smiled at them, showing all her teeth.

"Well, what do you say we get this over with?" Jughead stands and offers his hand to help Betty off the couch which she gladly took. They walked to the closet, which up to this point she'd not seen the inside of. For some reason she thought of the night she'd watched Archie disappear into it with Veronica. It seemed like forever ago. She couldn't help but wince at the thought of what he might of felt if he'd seen her go in there with Jughead.

"Well it's bigger than I thought." She said looking around the closet, grasping for something to say to keep the conversation light.

"Careful Betty, if anyone's listening through the door they may think you're talking about something else." He smirked and winked at her.

"Ugh. How did we even end up here?" She groaned.

"I don't know. Fate seems to keep throwing us together. I keep ending up alone with you, Betty Cooper." He looked into her eyes.

She didn't know why she liked the sound of him saying her name so much. She flashed back to the night he'd first told her he loved her. He'd used her full name then. Right before everything came crashing down around them. She tried to push the thoughts out of her head. Betty looked up into his eyes. His gaze was intense and she'd forgotten how it felt to be looked at in such a way.

"You're doing it again." He said softly. She hadn't realized she was biting her lip. Once she stopped his eyes didn't leave her lips.

"Juggy I-" She began but stopped, unsure how to continue.

"Yes, Betts?" He used his nickname for her.

"I guess I just wanted to say how sorry I am. About everything. It wasn't right leaving you the way I did. I was scared. Of the Serpents, of my mother, of what might happen to us. Everything was just changing too quickly for me. But it wasn't right. I should have been there for you. I knew you were scared too." She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine Betty. Things turned out okay. And it looks like you got _everything_ you ever wanted." He shrugged, looking down at his feet.

"Not everything." She couldn't meet his eyes as she absent mindedly bit her lip again.

Before Betty could process what was happening, she was pushed into the wall with a force that would have hurt had she not been so shocked at the faintly familiar lips on hers. In fact, for a fraction of a second she was too stunned to move. But instinct took over and soon she was moving her lips in time with his, everything they'd been holding back finally finding some release. His hands held her hips roughly to him and hers wound around strands of his hair underneath his beanie. She felt him getting hard against her and she kissed him harder and he began rubbing his hips against her. A moan escaped her lips and he picked up her thighs, wrapping her legs around him. In that moment, nothing else in the world mattered to them. They both wished they could stay in that closet forever.

They were so lost in eachother that they didn't hear the door to the closet open. "What the _hell_ is this?!" Archie stood in the doorway, anger painting his face red before beginning to storm away.

"Archie I'm _so_ sor-" Betty began walking after him.

"Save it Serpent _slut_." He spat. "I'm fucking done with you."

"Do not call her that!" Jughead said through his teeth.

"This was your plan all along, wasn't it?" Archie turned to his ex best friend. "Come back to Riverdale High and steal her away? You just couldn't _stand_ the thought of her being with someone else could you?"

"You've got it all wrong Arch, I didn't even know you two were together until I came back. And you sure seem high and mighty for what _you've_ been up to this Summer." Jughead's fists were balled up at his sides, tension thick in the air.

"Whatever." Archie snorted. "You can have my sloppy seconds. She's obviously a whore and she's boring as hell. In fact, I was planning on dumping her soon." He looked at her like she was nothing. After all the years of friendship and of dating, he was done with her following him around like a puppy. He felt that he could do better. "By the way Betty, I've been fucking his foster sister all Summer. I felt guilty and was actually planning on telling you but you're _obviously_ no better than me." With that, he turned and walked out of the house.

Betty didn't know what to do, tears streaming down her face and blood staining her palms where her nails were digging in. She was suddenly hyper aware of that fact they were standing in front of a silent crowd of people. She turned and ran to one of the many bathrooms in the Blossom house, locking herself in. She was hyperventilating and tried calming herself down but the waves of tears just wouldn't quit. She was obviously hurt from Archie's spiteful confession and the way he'd spoken to her. A small part of her also felt guilty for what she'd done with Jughead despite the fact that Archie had been up to much worse.

There was a soft knock at the door. "B? Hey are you alright?" Veronica asked softly.

"Not really." Betty sniffled.

"Archie's an _ass_. You're better off without him!" Kevin called. There was a thud and he sucked in a sharp breath. "What? I was just trying to help." He hissed at his assailant. Betty hiccuped a laugh at her two best friends and finally was able to make herself stop crying.

She heard a third pair of feet approach the door. "Is she in there?" There was a pause while her friends nodded at the solemn boy in the beanie. "Okay, well do you guys mind if I talk to her alone for a second?"

"I don't think that's a good-" Veronica began before Betty cut her off.

"V it's okay, I'll come find you guys in a bit. Thank you for checking up on me." She heard two pairs of feet walk away down the hall.

"Betty, I just wanted to say how sorry I am. I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have kissed you like that. I should've let you sort things out with Archie first. And I'm really sorry about whatever happened between him and Toni. I didn't know until today when she realized that he was the Archie from all my stories. For what it's worth, she's been pretty torn up about it too. She usually doesn't drink like this." He leaned his head against the door. "Betty?" He called again when there was no response. "Are you ok-"

The door opened slowly revealing a slightly disheveled Betty. Her mascara had left tear streaks down her face and her lips were still swollen from kissing him. "Just so you know, I do _not_ blame Toni for anything _at_ _all_. She didn't know he had a girlfriend until it was too late. We were both lied to and that's on him. And as for the kiss-" She bit her lip. "I am just as guilty in that as you. I wanted it too, I kissed you back. But now that I'm not in a relationship anymore I suppose it doesn't really matter."

"It was still wrong." He said looking down guiltily. Though Jughead couldn't help the feeling of his heart fluttering at her confession of wanting to kiss him as well.

She placed her hand under his chin and brought his eyes up to meet hers. "Then why did it feel so right?" She questioned, searching his eyes.

A small smile formed on his lips but didn't meet his eyes. "Do you want to go somewhere and talk?" He proposed.

"I think I'd like that, I just have to let V and Kev know before I go." She responded with a slight smile despite what had just happened.

Once all the appropriate parties were alerted that she was leaving and Veronica and Cheryl had insisted on keeping Toni overnight to take care of, the pair made their way out of the house. "No motorcycle tonight?" She asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"We rode here in a limo remember?"

"Right." She nodded.

* * *

They walked along the Blossom property in a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's company until they found themselves wandering the graveyard. Betty shuddered. "It's weird to think we spent half our sophomore year trying to solve the murder of someone buried here only for the killer to be laid to rest here as well."

"Well the Blossom family has finally been cleansed of their demons. What with the fire and all." They found a bench facing away from the house and sat down. The stone was cold on the back of Betty's thighs which weren't completely covered by her dress. She involuntarily shivered and he wordlessly put his tux jacket around her shoulders.

"Yeah, Cheryl really has a flair for drama. You think I could get her to burn down my house too?" She joked.

"I somehow believe that Mama Cooper could stop the fire with a stern look. Or just sheer will. Sometimes I truly believe that she has supernatural powers." He shuddered.

"I'm starting to think her powers are fading. After all, she didn't catch us Wednesday when you snuck into my room. Or when we snuck out after that." Betty smiled triumphantly.

"Now I'm beginning to think I'm corrupting you." He grinned at her.

"Oh please." She waved her hand. "If anyone is corrupting me, it's Veronica. She _loves_ her some Dark Betty."

"And what's this Dark Betty like?" He questioned, his eyes darkening.

"Dark Betty smokes, drinks, sneaks out, sneaks boys in her room, sneaks into clubs on school nights, and kisses dark and brooding gang members in closets _apparently_." She ticked all the things off on her fingers.

"You think I'm dark and brooding?" He asks incredulously. "Most people think I'm just weird."

"Well that makes you more interesting than 90% of people in this town." She bumped her shoulder to his. "I think it might be fun to play on the dark side a bit."

"Betty Cooper, it sounds like you might have a darkness to rival my own. What do you say we set them up for a play date sometime?" Jughead wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"I think that _could_ be arranged." She held his gaze and saw him lick his lips before leaning in.

She closed her eyes. This time she was prepared for the kiss, it began slow and gentle, like many other kisses they had shared before. His hands moved to cup her face and she wrapped her arms around his torso. His lips were sweet like the punch he'd been drinking. Her tongue skimmed his bottom lip and he pushed his against hers. His hands moved to her hips pulling her closer to him on the bench. She hadn't even notice his jacket had fell from her shoulders. She was warm enough under his touch.

She wanted to feel more of him and climbed into his lap, straddling him. Jughead moaned slightly at the contact to his hardening member in his dress pants. The material of his pants was thin compared to his usual denim. Her panties didn't provide much of a barrier either. He could feel the heat radiating from between her legs and he ached to touch her. As they kissed, she moved her hips against his, causing friction similar to when he'd been rubbing against her in the closet. She was getting wet again and bit down on his lip, needing to release her building aggression. He groaned and his fingers that had found their way under her dress dug into her hips and moved her harder against him.

Betty reached for his belt but he stopped her hand. "As much as I want to take you right here, right fucking _now_ , I'm not about to have our first time be in a graveyard full of your long lost relatives." He growled in her ear before sucking on her earlobe causing her to arch her back.

"Then let's go somewhere else." She purred to him, her lust and the combination of smoke and drink making her bolder than usual. They both stood up and he grabbed her hand and yanked her roughly behind him, walking as fast as humanly possible.

* * *

They'd been walking for about fifteen minutes before Betty realized they were coming up on Sweetwater River. She heard the water running and despite being slightly nervous, (their walk had allowed her time to begin overthinking things) the sound calmed her and she felt her shoulders relax. She snuggled into Jughead's shoulder, hands still entwined between them.

Once they were to the shore, she saw a treehouse built into one of the trees overlooking the water. She'd never noticed it before. Jughead squeezed her hand before releasing it and murmured, "You stay here." He climbed up the old ladder and let himself in the opening of the floor of the treehouse. He re-emerged a minute later, holding two pillows, a sleeping bag, a blanket, a couple of towels, and two candles.

She gave him a quizzical expression and was about to ask him how he knew about the treehouse and it's contents but he read her expression and gave his explanation. "The Blossom twins' old tree house." He jerked his head back towards it. "Freshman year, Jason had witnessed a brutal shouting match between FP and I at Pop's and offered to let me stay. He wanted to invite me to his house but you've met Clifford and Penelope. No way they'd let a _street_ _rat_ within the walls of their beautiful home. It was the best he could do. He really was kind deep down but his football buddies seemed to bring out the worst in him." He paused his story as a somber expression crossed his face. "Anyway, after he died I had to start staying at the drive-in because there were too many cops sniffing around the river and I've always valued my privacy. I wanted to avoid getting thrown in foster care because I thought me not living at the trailer was only temporary." He shrugged and began laying out the blankets on a patch of grass.

" _That's_ why you were so invested in finding Jason's murderer." She realized aloud.

"Glad I was, too. If not, I might've not gotten as close as I did with you." He smiled earnestly at her.

Once they had the makeshift bed all set up, with each candle lit and flanking either side, she dropped her heels she'd carried in her free hand throughout their walk and stepped around them, pulling him into a tight hug, surprising him. "I've missed you." She breathed against his chest.

"I missed you too." He smiled another rare smile before kissing the top of her head.

"Jug?" She asked.

"Yeah, Betts?" He held her back at arm's length to read her expression.

"What are the towels for?" She eyed the plush fabric folded up neatly next to the blankets.

"Close your eyes." He spoke with a devilish smirk. She opened her mouth to protest but he repeated his words, this time a bit more sternly. " _Close_ your eyes." He demanded. She wasn't used to a bossy Jughead but it made her feel hot and slightly aroused. "Don't peek." He commanded, guessing her temptation. Once Betty's eyes were closed, she heard Jughead's clothing rustle and hit the ground. She felt a blush creep on to her cheeks. Soon, she sensed him standing behind her and felt his breathing on the back of her neck. "Can I take off your dress?" He asked gruffly. She tried to swallow the lump forming in her throat and nodded in response, his tone of voice made her want to do just about anything he asked.

She felt his hands on her waist, finding her zipper and pulling it down antagonizingly slow. His hands moved to her shoulders, pushing her straps down. Again, at an unhurried pace, placing a burning trail of kisses on her shoulders and the back of her neck before releasing the dress, allowing it fall to her feet. Because the dress had exposed a lot of her back, she hadn't bothered with a bra. Betty chewed her lip anxiously, second guessing this choice.

"You can open your eyes now." He whispered against her skin. She turned around to face him and found him only in his black boxer briefs. She had noticed the first time she'd saw him again that his body had filled out, and she took a moment to run her fingers over his chest and abdomen which shuddered slightly beneath her touch. His eyes took in the sight of her and it took his breath away. "You are fucking gorgeous." He sighed, looking into her round green eyes, his voice husky. "Now, get in the water."

 **A/N: So I think there might be one more chapter after this, as all good things must come to an end. However, I do have several other story ideas I'm working on and hope to publish something else soon!**

 **I'm honestly so excited for season two to come out you guys. Like I've been reading up on anything about the new season. Some things I know are happening in the new season: Bughead works on cars together, (how cute is that?!) Veronica and Archie get a steamy shower scene, some of the gang get jobs at Pop's, Polly has her babies, Toni Topaz befriends Jughead as a fellow student at Southside High and Serpent member, (Though if she disturbs my precious Bughead I will personally write a fic of Betty kicking her ass.) Hiram comes to Riverdale and hates Archie's guts, Veronica's ex from New York (Nick St. Clair) makes an appearance and stirs up trouble, Josie and Reggie's replacement become a thing, (I will personally miss Ross Butler but we luckily get to see him in 13 Reasons Why season two so things aren't all bad.) And Cheryl gets a possible (female) love interest. Sorry for the rambling but this is what you have to look forward to. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Oh my goodness! It's been over a month since I updated! I'm so sorry to leave you guys hanging! I've had a bit of writer's block and only managed about a paragraph or so a day. But I received some huge news that's kept me pretty preoccupied. I'm pregnant! Yay! Kind of. Wasn't exactly planned but I'm excited to be a mommy. But I really needed to finish this story before season two starts. Without further ado, here is the final chapter of Saudade.**

" _Excuse me_?" Betty's eyes widened as she crossed her arms over her naked chest, grateful that the early September night was a comfortable warmth.

"You heard me." Jughead smirked and dropped his crown beanie on the ground with their clothes. She watched the Serpents tattoo move over the pectoral muscles on one side of his chest. It was exactly like the one Joaquin had. "If you don't go willingly I'm going to have to throw you in."

"You're awfully bossy tonight." She accused, trying to buy herself time.

"I like to think of it as being assertive." He crossed his arms. "Now are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I think," She bit her lip weighing her options. "there's no way in _hell_ you're getting me in that water." She retorted.

"Challenge accepted." He grinned before picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder.

"Jughead Jones, put me down this instant!" Betty yelled while laughing and beating her fists against his back.

"Not a chance, Nancy Drew." He chuckled and walked calmly to the river's edge. He began wading into the water.

"Is it cold?" She asks.

"Not at all." He lied as the cold water ran over his knees as he continued walking deeper.

"Okay put me down." Betty insisted.

The water was up to his boxers when he threw her in the water and lowered himself under before coming back up for air.

"Jughead!" She sputtered, spitting out water.

"I love when you say my name." He smiled at her.

"You said it wasn't cold!" She splashed him.

"It's not so bad once you get used to it now is it?" He swam lazily in a circle around her.

"I'm gonna catch a cold. Or get hypothermia." She crossed her arms, the water up to her navel where she stood.

"Betty, for once in your life, stop worrying. Enjoy this moment with me." He stood up and pulled her hips to him and hugged her.

"I suppose I could do that." She breathed, relaxing against him.

"Good." He drawled out the word before shoving her backwards into the water.

"I'm gonna get you for that!" Betty exclaimed before tackling him.

The pair swam until Betty was shivering and covered in goosebumps. "How about we get out and warm you up? Yeah?" Jughead asked his blonde companion who could only manage a nod.

On shore, they wrapped themselves up in the luxurious plush towels no doubt provided by the Blossoms via Jason. It didn't take them too long to warm up as the air that night was several degrees higher than the water. They sat on the covers wrapped in the towels leaning against each other.

"How's Polly been?" Jughead asks.

"She's good. The twins are a year and a half old now and they went straight from crawling to running it seems. They run her ragged around that little apartment of hers. Cheryl and I take turns giving her one night off a week." She smiled affectionately at the mention of her niece and nephew.

"What are their names?" He questions curiously.

"Jason Jr. and Rose, named after Nana Blossom who passed away last spring. He has red hair like his dad, and she has blonde but Polly _swears_ that she has an orange strand of hair like Nana Blossom did." She grinned.

"Creepy." He commented. "What's Polly doing for work now?"

"Working at the Register for mom and dad. She's not much of a writer but she mostly helps edit and research. Their stories have gotten a lot more honest under her watch. I know it's not the life she pictured but she seems happy. Cheryl has even been pushing her to start dating." She gushed.

"Well I'm glad things have worked out for her." He was always fond of Betty's sister. She was always nice to him when he was around despite the snarky comments Mama Cooper always had for him.

"How's Jellybean?" She asks.

"She's great. Twelve years old and all the boys in her class are terrified of her." He smiles triumphantly. "She's started wearing all black and experimenting with eyeliner. I think she's starting an emo phase." They both laugh.

"Well, like brother like sister." Betty teases.

"Hey I'm not emo." He bumps his shoulder into hers, almost knocking her over.

"Are too." She giggles. "You still wear mostly black and grey, you're all mysterious and brooding, and you have hair that is always in your face. Yup, totally emo." She says while gently tugging on his strand of hair that had fallen onto his forehead.

"Okay so you've got me there. Just don't help any of the Serpents reach that conclusion. They already have a hard time taking me seriously." He frowns.

"How's that been? Being the leader, I mean." She chewed her lip.

"Well it's not exactly the life I imagined. I spend a lot more time at the bar than your average seventeen year old. They weren't really prepared when FP went to jail, they didn't feel that anyone could take his place. And I guess, technically no one has." He lamented.

Betty's eyebrows scrunched together. "What do you mean?"

"Well I visit him once a week and let him know everything that's going on and he gives me advice on how to handle things. It's really like he's still in charge. But the police have still been trying to find any reason to lock these guys up and I'm dropping men like flies. So he's been helping me to persuade them to stop any illegal activity. At least the ones we know about. They don't exactly like taking orders from me." He winced.

"Well in a year, that will be Joaquin's problem. You'll be away at NYU, you do still want to go to NYU right?" He nods and gestures for her to continue. "So you'll be writing away doing what you love." She smiles.

"That's the plan." He says, leaning back on his hands, his towel falling down his shoulders exposing his torso. "I'm sorry if I kinda ruined any plans you might've had with Archie."

"Oh please, he ruined that himself. But I don't want to talk about him anymore tonight. I just want to be here with you." She leans over and pecks him on the lips. Before she can pull away, he captures her face in his hands, holding her to him and deepening the kiss. She surrenders to him and gently places her hands on his sides, running her fingers over his skin. To Jughead's surprise, her tongue licked his bottom lip before probing into his mouth and wrestling his pink muscle. His hands moved tentatively down her bare back, gently caressing her skin before pulling her down so she was above him as he lie on the blankets.

Betty bit her lip as she straddled him, and leaned back down to kiss him again. This time, hungrier as the air around them sizzled with their burning desire. His fingers grazed her abdomen on their way up to her breasts, gripping her firmly as she arched her back and her breathing hitched. He sat up with her in his lap and his hands on her chest, and began assaulting her neck fiercely with kisses. Nipping at her skin and licking unseen patterns.

She panted as she rocked herself against him. He rolled a nipple between his fingers. "Jughead!" Betty cried out.

"I'm sorry, do you want me to stop?" He asked earnestly.

She shook her head and smiled around her lip that was captured between her teeth. "No. Please do anything but stop."

His eyes grew darker before he caught her nipple in his mouth, one hand on the other breast, second hand on her hip as they moved together.

"Oh!" She exclaimed at the contact before weaving her fingers in his hair holding him to her. "Juggy I don't know how much more of this I can take." She breathed.

"Tell me what you want, Betts." He whispered gruffly in her ear, sending a delicious shiver down her spine.

"I want, _oh_! I want you to touch me." She begged as he continued kissing the upper half of her body.

A moment later she was pushed down onto her back with him hovering over her. He smirked at her. "You don't have to tell me twice." She suddenly felt a thumb on her most sensitive area, rubbing circles as he began kissing her lips again. A moan escaped her mouth and the thumb rubbed faster, and she started bucking her hips against the friction.

A finger hooked around her panties and lingered there, in silent question. She nodded against his kisses and he pulled them down slowly, savoring the moment. A finger stroked her entrance lazily, exploring her wet folds. She jerked her hips forward enveloping his digit slightly and he smiled against her lips. "Relax. We have all night." He murmured against her lips.

She smiled shyly and let him take over again. At a sluggish pace, he inserted one finger and his dick twitched when he heard her whimper. He began moving it in and out, slowly building speed and added a second, curling them inside her. His movements caused her hips to start jerking again with need. The little ball inside her swelling with each stroke.

"Juggy! Oh God! I'm gonna-"

"Mm. Come for me Betts. You're so wet already. I know you're close." He whispered into the crook of her neck, her arms keeping him trapped there.

Betty squirmed beneath him as he continued pumping his fingers and thumbed her clitoris, pushing her closer to the edge. With one final cry of his name, her body painstakingly released, clenching around his digits.

Before he could register what was happening, Jughead's boxers were being pulled down and her soft hand gripped him and began stroking. "Jughead I want you. Right here, right now. I've waited so long and can't go another minute. I'm on birth control and I'm ready." She announced, boldly gazing into his eyes.

"Oh my God, Betty I love you." He murmured and his eyes grew wide at the realization of what just slipped out and his hand covered his betraying mouth.

"Wait did you just…?" She cocked her head with a grin on her face.

"Yeah." He smiled sheepishly and amusingly to Betty, a blush painted Jughead's face. "I didn't really mean to say it to be honest, if you would kindly just forget that happened." He still wouldn't meet her eyes.

Her hands cupped his face and forced him to look at her. "Well did you mean it?" She inquired, searching his eyes.

"Well I- uh, yeah." He finally met her eyes. "I mean I know it's really soon since we're kinda just starting to see eachother again today but," He took a deep breath. "This whole week being back in school with you, I was able to spend time with you and you're still the same girl I fell for two years ago. I mean you've changed a bit, but not in bad ways. And I guess it just kind of made me realize that I never stopped. Loving you, that is." He found himself hoping he wasn't making a huge mistake by confessing all of this.

"Jughead, I-" She bit her lip thinking of her next words carefully. "Two years ago, when I ended things, I wasn't thinking straight. I wanted my mom to stop bothering me, I didn't like people calling me a Serpent slut, your side of town scared me and I was afraid of who you might become, and in turn, who I might become because of it. I was afraid of change and too much of it was happening all at once. And with that on top of all the murder drama and Fred getting shot, I missed my old boring life." She sighed and looked into his blue-green eyes. "But I was _wrong_. I missed you everyday. I was a wreck. Before I started dating Archie, you don't know how many times Veronica suggested we go to the Southside and hunt you down. I was scared that you hated me, that you never wanted to see me again after hurting you like that. The last time we saw each other, we were both crying and we never finished talking because you had to get to your initiation and my mom kept honking her damn horn outside the trailer."

"You ignored all my calls and texts after that." He said grimly.

"I know and there's no excuse for that but I thought a clean break would be best and I changed my phone number." She looked down guilty. "And then Archie and I started dating. I thought it would make me happy. But being with him just made me miss you more. It wasn't right of me but I often found myself comparing him to you. I kept wishing he'd do this or that like you did. Or always know the right thing to say like you but he didn't. Because he wasn't you. He didn't even seem all that interested in me. It was like the label of being boyfriend/girlfriend changed nothing. I mean we'd kiss, but it never really went farther than that. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is, it was always you. I've always loved you." Her green eyes shone earnestly.

Jughead's face split with a grin and and he bent his head down to kiss Betty again. As soon as his lips brushed hers, she felt the fire ignite inside her again and her hands pulled his body flush against hers. She felt his back muscles dance beneath her palms whenever he moved his body. She rubbed her naked core against him in need. He pushed back against her, tentatively.

He leaned his face back a few inches. "Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked, needing reassurance.

"Juggy, I've never been more sure of anything in my life." She smiled, cupping his cheeks in her slender fingers.

He kissed her again ferociously, his male instinct taking over. She smiled against his lips as he lined himself up at her entrance. He pushed forward slowly slipping inside. Her moan was almost like a hum into his mouth. His hands gripped her hips as she tried pushing against him, needing more. "Doesn't it hurt?" He whispered, withdrawing slightly.

"Not a bit. Now move, Jones." She demanded.

He happily obeyed pushing himself back in, letting his full length free inside her until she completely sheathed him. She clenched around him causing both of them pleasure. As he began moving at a slow but steady pace, her cries at each thrust kept him coming back like a gambler at slot machine. He was panting, his hot breath caressing her skin and filling her ears with cuss words he mumbled under his breath. Rocking her hips with him, she encouraged a faster, frantic pace.

The years they spent apart melting away, like the sweat rolling off their bodies. Both of them felt grounded to this moment. A strong sense that this was exactly where they were meant to be, washing over them. That this was exactly what love was supposed to feel like. Wrapped up in the arms of the person you love, rolling in waves of pleasure that are almost too much to bear.

Betty watched him moving above her, he was strong but trying his best to be gentle. She loved watching his eyes close as she contracted her muscles around him. "Betts, if you keep doing that, I won't last much longer." He warned, much like the plea she had voiced to him earlier.

"Jughead, can I…" She sat up on her elbows and trailed off before biting her lip.

"I will give you absolutely anything in the world right now, Betty." He growled against her ear.

"I want to be on top." She whispered shyly. Avoiding his eyes that shot open once the words left her lips, her cheeks heated up as she waited for his response.

"Like I said, anything." His amused grin focused on her as he slowly withdrew and laid on his back next to her.

She straddled his waist, and hovered above him. Her grabbed her hips as she positioned him below her. To Jughead's surprise she finally met his eyes as she gradually sunk down on him, her teeth keeping her bottom lip prisoner. With her hands resting on his chest, she testingly rolled her hips forward once, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. She moved back and forth, finding a rhythm she liked. He examined her above him, the most perfect thing he'd ever seen in the world. Her beautiful face contorting in ways he'd never seen before tonight. He bucked his hips in time with hers wanting to make her come again. Both of them could moan and scream without the fear of being heard. Their cries drowned out by the roar of the river, feet away from them.

Too soon, they both succumbed to their orgasms in unison. Betty collapsed on Jughead's chest.

"That was-" She took a deep breath.

"Amazing." Jughead smiled into the crook of her neck.

They shifted themselves so they were under the covers tucked in for the night. Betty's head laid on Jughead's chest and his arm tucked around her.

"So is this your move? Do you bring all the girls down here?" She asked teasingly to cover up the fact that she was suddenly wondering about his other experiences while at Southside High. He'd know all about her and Archie but they never talked about what relationships Jughead might've had since they've been apart.

"No Betty, you are the only girl I've brought here. You know, I don't exactly like to advertise the fact that I was once homeless." He snorted.

"Right." She nodded once.

"Is everything okay?" He asked, his anxiety creeping up on him. He tightened his grip on her, hoping she wasn't regretting everything that had just happened.

"It's just, you know about Archie, and I guess I was just wondering if you dated at all while we were apart?" She closed her eyes, cringing at how pathetic she must sound.

"Why do you ask Cooper? You jealous?" He teased.

"Absolutely not!" She scoffed.

"It's okay if you are." He smirked. "To answer your question though, I hung around Toni a lot and most girls just assumed we were together. They were probably too afraid of her to chance it by talking to me. And as far as the Serpents go, since she's a member too, they've always known we are foster siblings. Some of the guys have tried pushing me to date, but I've always kinda shrugged it off. And now that Joaquin's back, there have been some gay rumors, which it's the 21st century and I'm not homophobic, so I don't really care enough to correct them. I like my privacy and if I can help it, I don't really want you to have anything to do with the Serpents." He rubbed circles on her back while he spoke, and he could almost feel her insecurities melting away.

"Other than you?" She mocked.

"Yes, other than me and Joaquin I guess." He smiled smugly and nuzzled against her. "Let's get some sleep." He yawned.

"Night Jug." She breathed.

"Goodnight Bets." He kissed the top of her head and soon they were fast asleep.

The next morning, Betty awoke to the sounds of birds chirping. She opened her eyes and blushed, realizing that her and Jughead were both still naked. She peeked up at his face and he was still sound asleep. She was startled by how much younger he looked in his slumber, the years that'd hardened his features melted away. He looked more boyish in this instance rather than the man she'd known. It reminded her of their formative years in elementary and middle school before his life had been turned upside down by his parents.

He suddenly tugged her back to where she had been lying beside him. He groaned while doing this, her movement made him cold. She found her phone and sent a quick text before nudging the sleeping boy awake. "Good morning, Juggy." She purred.

"It would be better if you let me sleep." He whined without opening his eyes.

"Jughead." Betty pouted, hovering over him again.

His eyes flew open. "Oh, Betty. I'm sorry I didn't realize where I was." He smiled sheepishly and sat up.

"It's okay. You're obviously not a morning person." She shrugged.

"Yeah. I do a lot better after I've had my coffee." He rubbed the back of his head. "Speaking of, how do you feel about going to Pop's for some breakfast?"

"I'd love to Juggy, but it think I might want to go home and change first, and I'm sure my makeup is all over the place now." She gestured to her discarded dress feet away from them.

"Yeah that makes sense. But you look beautiful, by the way." He kissed her lips chastely. "I don't exactly know how we're gonna get back. I'm sure you don't want to walk in your heels all the way back."

"Well, we don't have to. I've arranged for a ride. Actually, we should get dressed, he'll be here any minute."

"He?" Jughead didn't hide the jealousy in his voice.

"Don't worry." She rolled her eyes and patted the top of his head as she stood to retrieve her dress.

The pair put their clothes back on from the previous night, and Jughead put the blankets and pillows back in the treehouse. "In case we ever want to come back here." He smiled at her.

Soon, a light blue Prius rolled up to where they were standing, hand in hand.

"Kevin?" He asked and she nodded in response.

"Thank you so much Kev!" Betty said as she climbed into the passenger side.

"Uh huh." He smiled knowingly at her and she was certain he'd grill her for all the details once he dropped Jughead off.

Jughead climbed into the backseat to find he wasn't alone. Toni was hunched over wearing a pair of silk pajamas no doubt provided by Cheryl. "I feel like death." She groaned looking up at him.

"You look like it." He commented under his breath as her put on his seat belt.

"Hey, I heard that." She said and with a surprising force, punched his shoulder.

"You two behave back there, or I will not hesitate to turn this car around!" Kevin teased.

Once Kevin's car rolled into the Southside, standing out among the beat up cars and motorcycles, Toni had fallen back asleep. Kevin was growing more giddy by the minute just dying to question Betty. Jughead got out and went to the opposite side and scooped Toni up in his arms, he paused by Betty's window and smiled at her. "I'll see you at Pop's in an hour or so, yeah? Text me when you're ready, I'll pick you up."

"It's a date." She nodded happily at the man wearing the crown beanie that she loved.

Once he'd ducked inside the surprisingly big house for being on the Southside of town, Kevin pulled away from the curb and started firing questions at her instantly. "Is he your boyfriend now? Do you love him? Where did you sleep? Did you sleep with him? What are you going to do about Archie? If you did have sex; which by the way, I'm _not_ judging; is he good in bed?"

"Whoa Kev, slow down. We haven't made anything exactly official yet but we did tell one another we loved each other last night." She beamed. "And we slept under the stars on some blankets and pillows that were stashed in that treehouse." She smiled dreamily.

"Did you _do_ it?" He goaded.

"Jesus do you need to know everything?"

"Yes, as your best friend, I do." He nodded trying to keep his eyes on the road.

"Well if you must know, yes. And it was amazing. He really seemed to know what he was doing." She sighed, remembering the way he made her legs shake.

"And Archie?" He asked.

"Has been one of my best friends forever. I'd honestly hate to lose that but after everything that's happened it's hard to see things ever being okay between us again." She frowned. "I don't really know what I'd say to him if he tried talking to me."

"Well, you might want to figure it out." He nodded in the direction of the Andrews house where Archie had just gotten back from a run with his shirt off. Luckily, he went inside before spotting them.

"Well again thanks for the ride. I hope you night with Joaquin was as good as mine with Jughead." She said, opening her car door and stepping out.

"Oh, it was." He winked. "I'll call you with details later and you can tell me about your date with Jughead."

"Deal." She smiled again before slipping inside her house.

Betty had tried to be quiet but her Mother came out of the kitchen as soon as Betty closed the door behind her.

"Where have you been all night?" Alice crossed her arms.

"I slept over at Cheryl's with Veronica and some other girls after the dance." She said walking towards the stairs, trying to avoid an interrogation.

"Cheryl couldn't lend you any pajamas? Betty you look like you've just had a walk of shame."

"I was too tired to even think about it I guess. And Kevin gave me a ride home so I didn't do any walking at all." She replied halfway up the stairs.

"You better not have been out with that Andrews boy all night. God forbid you end up like your sister."

"Don't you remember putting me on birth control right after you found out about Polly?" She questioned, still backing up the stairs. Once she'd turned onto the other set of stairs away from her mother's eye, she called, "Oh and Archie and I broke up!" She ran to her room and closed the door behind her before being faced with more questions.

She looked in one of her mirrors to assess the damage done by the night before. Her hair had gone flat from the water and her makeup had all but washed away. She slipped off her dress and shrugged on her robe and walked to the bathroom.

She showered quickly and brushed her teeth, applied deodorant and walked back to her room to finish getting ready. She pulled on some light wash denim skinny jeans, her ankle boots, and a flowy dark purple tank top that showed just a little bit more cleavage than usual. After applying some light makeup, she texted Jughead that she was ready. As she blow dried her damp hair quick, she noticed a flash of orange hair outside her window and fought the urge to look up at it.

After fastening her hair in her signature ponytail, her phone chimed with a text. She frowned when it wasn't from Jughead.

Archie: can we talk…?

Betty: there's nothing to talk about.

Archie: pls… u won't even look at me…

Betty huffed and flung open her window. "What do you want Archie?" She shouted across the way as he opened his window.

"To apologize. What I did really was way worse than whatever you did with Jughead." He said earnestly. "I was an idiot. You were one of my closest friends and when I realized things weren't romantic between us, I should have just ended it instead of fooling around on you. I should've been honest with you."

"You're right. You should've done all those things. But you didn't. Why?" Betty crossed her arms.

"I was _scared_ , Betty. I almost lost you sophomore year when I said I didn't have feelings for you. I didn't want to lose you again. Way back then I should've been honest that a part of me did see you romantically but I just wasn't ready for any type of commitment. I was seeing Grundy and was infatuated with Veronica and there were so many other girls that were interested in me I wasn't ready to settle down." Betty listened to his words carefully, and she knew he was being sincere. Even though he'd messed up big time, she knew he wasn't really a bad person. "And then when you started dating Jughead it just sort of clicked for me, I didn't like seeing you with someone else. I even tried telling you once I'd always thought we'd end up together but you shut it down. When you two broke up, I wanted to confess how I felt so bad, but I was with Veronica by then, and I knew you needed time to heal. I was so fixated on you the rest of that year, I hardly noticed when V started ditching me for Cheryl all the time. Then the timing was right at the back to school dance last year and well, you know the rest." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Except what changed. Why was I still not enough for you?"

"I guess I realized most of what I pictured between us was just a fantasy. I kept comparing our relationship to what you had with Jughead and I knew we didn't have what you guys did. I didn't want to sleep with you because I had a strong feeling you'd regret it someday."

" _That's_ why you were so jealous when Jughead came back to school."

"Yeah. I mean I knew you guys were better off together but I hadn't exactly stayed in touch with him after he switched schools either. And I guess the thought of you guys being together now made me feel like I'd be left out. I'd have no one."

Betty's heart sunk. Despite all the times Archie had hurt her, she still cared about him as her friend. "Thank you for telling me all this. I never knew you'd felt that way."

"Yeah. I'm sorry, really. Especially for how I acted last night. I guess I've never really had very big problems in my life until my dad got shot and I just never learned how to deal with things properly or talk things out."

"Well if you ever need to talk I'm here. As a friend." Betty said cautiously.

"So you forgive me?" He grinned from his window.

"I think forgiveness might take some time but it's not out of the question. Honestly I don't want to lose you as a friend either."

"That's a relief to hear." He gripped the window sill. "How about we make a pact to always be honest with each other."

"Deal." Betty gave a small smile and bit her lip. "You should know, Jughead and I are sort of together now."

"I figured as much after last night. I'll get used to it." He decided. "You should let him know I'd like to be friends with him again too. If he'd have me."

"I can't speak for him but I'll pass along the message." She promised.

"Thanks Betty. I wish you two the best. You're actually really good together." He said before shutting his window.

She sat down on her bed and waited for the doorbell or the sound of Jughead's motorcycle. She felt like weight had been lifted off her chest. Things were finally falling into place. So different than things had been yesterday.

She jumped at the sound if a knock on her other window. "Are you ever going to use the front door like a proper gentlemen?" She scolded as Jughead climbed through her window and gave her a quick kiss.

"Sneaking in is so much more romantic. Also, I'm still afraid of your mother."

"A gang leader afraid of a teenage girl's _mom_." She snorted.

"Hey, Alice is from the Southside originally. She's tough."

"Where'd you hear that?" She crossed her arms at him.

"FP."

"I'll have to ask her about that sometime. It seems my mom has more secrets than I can count."

"Are you ready to go?" He asked climbing back out the window.

"Yeah, but I didn't hear your bike."

"About that, there's been a slight change of plans. Toni heard us make breakfast plans and she demanded bacon for her hangover so I just brought her with if that's okay?" Betty frowned but nodded. "Also…"

He looked up at her from the window. "What?" She asked expectantly.

"Would you be my girlfriend? I'm sorry I'd planned on asking you at Pop's but I felt like it should be asked when we're alone and now that Toni's kind of cramping our style-"

He was cut off by Betty's lips and just about fell from the ladder. "Absolutely." She smiled at him. "I'm gonna go through the house, and let my mom know I'm leaving so she doesn't show up at Pop's later."

"Sounds good to me." He grinned and made his way to the ground.

After Betty got through another interrogation with Alice, she went out her front door and hopped into FP's old green truck. Next to her, was Toni, hunched over and her eyes closed.

"Is she gonna be alright?" Betty giggled.

" _She_ , is going to be just fine once she has coffee and greasy hangover food." Toni raised her head slightly to look at Betty. Jughead laughed as he started the truck up and headed towards the diner.

"You do look like the walking dead, Toni." Jughead joked as she shuffled behind the pair that were holding hands.

"What do you want me to say? That I'm never going to drink that much again? Because we both know that would be a lie." She mumbled. He held open the door for the two girls and Toni's face instantly lit up. "Ooh my new besties are here!" She grabbed Betty's hand and drug her to the booth with Cheryl and Veronica inside. Toni sat next to Cheryl and Betty sat next to Veronica, squishing her against the window to make room for Jughead.

Veronica exchanged a knowing look with Betty and gestured to Jughead, effectively making the blonde blush, confirming the New Yorker's silent question. Cheryl, however was not so subtle. "So Betty it looks like you finally came to your senses and ditched Archiekins."

"I didn't _ditch_ him. Things just ended because we weren't right for each other. Last night looked really bad but he's not a bad guy." Betty shrugged.

"Not a bad guy?" Veronica scoffed. "He cheated on you!"

"I cheated on him too last night a Cheryl's. You know how hot headed he gets. But we talked things out this morning and we agreed that we might be able to go back to being friends after sometime. He even said that he wished Jug and I the best." She said and glanced up at her boyfriend to gage his reaction. Jughead's expression was a bit stoic but she continued on. "He actually said that he's interested in being friends with you again now that you're back."

"I suppose that's a possibility." He mused.

"Well I wasn't expecting you guys to be here!" A happy voice called as Kevin strode up to their table with one hand gripping his heart in fake surprise and the other pulling Joaquin along in toe. The boys sat in the booth behind them then turned around in their seats to face the group. "So what's going on?" Kevin asked, able to sniff out gossip better than anyone else.

"Apparently Archie and Betty talked this morning and now everything's happy-go-lucky." Cheryl snarked.

"He wants to be friends with everyone again." Veronica said sarcastically.

"Oh, Betty. Are you sure about that?" Kevin questioned.

" _No_ , but most of us grew up being friends with him. I don't want him to just have no one because he and I didn't work out. He knows I'm going to keep him at arm's length for a while since I haven't exactly forgiven him for what he did but I don't think his intentions are malicious." The blonde insisted.

"Well if you really think that, I'm going to trust your judgement. I'll give being friends with him again a shot." Jughead smiled at her and took her hand and she snuggled into his side.

"Okay I know I probably shouldn't open my big mouth, but I definitely don't think he's a bad dude. He was nothing but nice to me and seemed okay until I found out he had a girlfriend. Not to mention he felt really guilty about the whole ordeal. I don't exactly want anything to do with him romantically anymore but friendship isn't out of the question for me." Toni concluded.

"If you think you know what you're doing Betty I'll trust you. Besides, we need our goofy redhead to level out the snarky redhead." Veronica giggled and poked Cheryl's side.

"I'm taking that as a compliment." Cheryl rolled her eyes over her pancakes.

"Speak of the devil." Kevin murmured.

Everyone turned to the door and watched him enter. He had Reggie with him and they walked towards the usual table until Archie noticed the whole gang there and his face went as red as his hair. "Um, hey guys. I didn't realize you all would be here." He scratched the back of his head.

"It's okay Arch." Betty gave him a small smile.

"Would you like to sit?" Kevin gestured to the empty seat across from him and Joaquin.

"Uh, yeah I think we will." Reggie said sitting in the booth and pulling Archie's jacket so he came down with him. Reggie eyed Toni and she blushed and turned around.

"This is going to be one interesting school year." Kevin muttered.

 **A/N: As always, I love to hear feedback and I'd like to know what everyone thought of the ending. I'm not sure how much writing I'll be doing but I'm going to make an effort! Writing will always be a passion of mine.**


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